BENTONVILLE -- Will Kennedy provided the defensive play Conway needed during an offensive shootout Thursday night.
The senior free safety gave the Wampus Cats a lead they never relinquished when he picked up Will Jarrett's fumble and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown, and Conway held off Bentonville West for a 48-40 victory in a Class 7A state quarterfinal game at Tiger Stadium.
Conway 48, Bentonville West 40
Conway^7^28^6^7^—^48
West^17^0^13^10^—^40
First quarter
West — Prince 11 pass from Jarrett (McDoulett kick), 9:16.
West — Prince 7 pass from Jarrett (McDoulett kick), 3:50.
Conway — George 57 run (Wicks kick), 3:37.
West — FG McDoulett 25, 2:11.
Second quarter
Conway — Clark 1 run (Wicks kick), 10:57.
Conway — Lloyd 16 fumble recovery (Wicks kick), 10:04.
Conway — George 13 run (Wicks kick), 8:17.
Conway — Richmond 33 pass from Hreha (Wicks kick), 0:04.
Third quarter
West — Banda 27 pass from Jarrett (McDoulett kick), 9:52.
West — Banda 20 pass from Jarrett (pass fail), 6:33.
Conway — George 10 run (pass fail), 0:22.
Fourthy quarter
West — FG McDoulett 32, 6:20.
Conway — Hreha 4 run (Wicks kick), 2:49.
West — Banda 13 pass from Jarrett (McDoulett kick), 1:13.
"All week long, it was 'Defense, we have to make some stops,'" Kennedy said. "You watch Bentonville West on film, and they are the best offense in the state -- I don't care what people say. But we like the challenge. It went bad for us early, but I think it was our defense that turned the game around.
"I had the little fullback guy, and the quarterback started scrambling around. The ball went on the ground, and it was right there. So I said I was picking it up, then I saw some offensive line chasing me so I tried to outrun them to the end zone."
Kennedy's score gave Conway (9-3) a 21-17 lead with 10 minutes, 4 seconds remaining in the first half, less than a minute after Brennan Clark scored on a 1-yard run. It was part of a 28-point Wampus Cat outburst in the second quarter that led to a 35-17 halftime cushion.
Michael George, who finished with 271 yards on 39 carries after sitting out last week's game against Rogers High, scored on a 13-yard run with 8:17 before halftime. Conway completed its first-half scoring when Andrew Hreha hit Nick Richmond with a 33-yard touchdown pass with just 4 seconds on the clock.
"Once our guys settled down, I thought we played really hard and played really well, then our offense started clicking," Conway coach Clint Ashcraft said. "The biggest thing was we needed to calm down. They were in a hurry-up mode, and our guys were on our heels for a little bit defense.
"They finally calmed down, and when they got a stop that gave them some confidence. Then our offense was able to put together some scores, and it turned out to be big."
West (9-2), however, didn't make things easy. The Wolverines started the second half with Will Jarrett's 27-yard touchdown pass to Stefan Banda, then Kendall Young's fumble recovery set up Jarrett and Banda again -- this time a 20-yard touchdown pass -- and cut Conway's lead to 35-30 midway through the third quarter after a try to two failed.
West had a chance to possibly regain the lead when its defense forced a punt, and the Wolverines took over on their 15 with 4:17 left in the third quarter. West picked up a quick first down, but had to punt the ball back three plays later.
"It was one of those things where we didn't play very clean," said Wolverines coach Bryan Pratt, whose team is now 0-2 in playoff games in its short history. "We got ourselves in a big hole and had to battle back, and we kept fighting.
"We just couldn't get that drive going, and it seemed like what we did a lot throughout the game. Once we got a drive going, we felt fine but we had too many three-and-outs."
George, who had a 53-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, gave Conway a 41-30 lead heading into the final 12 minutes of play with a 10-yard touchdown run. After Blake McDoulett's 32-yard field goal pulled West with 41-33, Hreha scored from 4 yards out with 2:47 remaining to make it a 48-33 game.
West answered when Jarrett, who finished 22 of 37 passing for 417 yards and 5 touchdowns, hit Banda with a 13-yard pass with 1:13 left to play. Conway, however, recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock, setting up a semifinal game between the winner of today's game between Fort Smith Northside and North Little Rock.
Sports on 11/17/2017