BENTONVILLE -- Jody Grant's birthday present just couldn't wait Friday night.
Bentonville started the celebration early with 24 first-quarter points and ended it by dousing its coach with icy liquid near the end of the game as the Tigers earned a trip to the Class 7A state championship with a convincing 44-14 semifinal victory over Bryant at Tiger Stadium.
Bentonville (10-2) will return to War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock for a championship game for the first time since Grant took over as coach from Barry Lunney, who retired after the Tigers completed back-to-back state championships in 2014. Bentonville will play North Little Rock, a 49-14 winner over Conway on Friday, in a noon game Dec. 2.
"It's the sweetest birthday gift you could get," Grant said. "I told my wife earlier the best gift I could envision would be winning a semifinal football game and giving our kids the opportunity to compete for a state championship.
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"This group is hungry for this. This is not a fluke. This is something they are working hard for, and it's important to them."
Bentonville found success numerous times Friday with big plays after Bryant (10-3) had its opening drive stall after a personal foul call and was forced to punt. The Tigers' first offensive play was a 41-yard run by Preston Crawford and set the stage for Sam Younger's 44-yard field goal. Then Nathan Lyons made it 17-0 when he scored on a 6-yard touchdown run and threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Landon Beeler with 3:40 left in the first quarter.
Crawford, who finished with 85 yards on 13 carries, completed the first-quarter barrage when he scored from a yard out with 20 seconds remaining. That came after Bentonville's defense held Bryant to three consecutive three-and-out possessions and forced punts.
"We started doing some stuff offensively, and it was working," Grant said. "When our offensive line is clicking and our run game is clicking, then we're really good on offense. But we have some weapons to throw the ball to, and our quarterback is operating very smoothly right now."
By the time Bryant could get its offense going, Bentonville had already extended its lead to 30-0 on Crawford's 3-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter. The Hornets finally scored when Ren Hefley hit Brandon Murray with a 9-yard touchdown pass at the 3:04 mark, only to have the Tigers counter on Joey Escamilla's 7-yard run with 29 seconds before halftime.
"We just didn't play well," Bryant Coach Buck James said. "We've been doing this for the last three weeks, and we did it again this week. It's either immaturity or it's something I'm not doing right to get them to where they can function.
"But give Bentonville a lot credit. They have a good football team, and they whipped us on both sides of the line. Their interior guys were much faster, stronger and had a lot more leverage then our guys did. We allowed it to happen and they took it to us."
Lyons, playing his final home game, finished with 262 yards and 2 touchdowns on 13-of-21 passing, and he added 78 yards on 11 carries. Hefley was 27 of 45 for 296 yards.
Sports on 11/25/2017