Benton showed its experience in the fourth quarter Friday night while earning a 39-25 victory over Little Rock Parkview at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
With Benton (1-1), a Class 6A semifinalist in 2016, leading 32-25, Beau Brewer's 28-yard touchdown run with 1:00 remaining gave the Panthers a 14-point lead.
Parkview (1-1), with two timeouts remaining, had an opportunity to pull closer, but quarterback Geary Allmon fumbled and the Panthers recovered to seal the victory with less than 20 seconds remaining.
Benton Coach Brad Harris, who saw his team lose 49-42 to Bryant on last Saturday in the Salt Bowl at War Memorial Stadium, was relieved about the victory.
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"It's huge for us to get that W," Harris said. "I thought we played really well last week. This week, we were spurty, a little on and off. But the last three minutes of the ballgame was really good for us.
"I thought the defense stepped up and made some plays. Maybe that's something we can build off of."
Little Rock Parkview Coach Brad Bolding lamented his team's missed opportunities.
"Kickoff return for a touchdown, a whole bunch of missed tackles for a touchdown [by Brewer] and an interception for a touchdown," Bolding said. "That's 21 points. We'll uncover some more when we watch the film.
"That's what you have to teach these guys. When you're trying to build a program, when you're trying to make that turn into a good program is those big plays. We're always telling them, 'There's going to be a big play that matters. There's going to be a play that decides whether you win or lose. You have to play hard every play.'
"Those three plays, we didn't play very hard or made poor decisions or it could have been a coach's fault making a bad call. But those are things we have to shore up and fix."
Benton led 32-19 at halftime.
Running back Zak Wallace rushed for 59 yards and three touchdowns to lead Benton. Quarterback Colen Morrow passed for 192 yards, and wide receiver Gavin Wells caught 5 passes for 73 yards.
For Parkview, Allmon passed for 110 yards and 1 touchdown and rushed for 128 yards. Running back Treyvon Hadley had 62 yards and 1 touchdown on 11 carries.
The Panthers took a 6-0 lead with 10:47 left in the first quarter on Wallace's 6-yard run. On Parkview's first possession, Allmon was intercepted by Camron Ross, who returned it 27 yards for a touchdown, making it 12-0 Benton at the 10:05 mark.
Wallace's 1-yard run extended Benton's lead to 18-0 with 3:42 left in the first quarter.
Zach Smith scored from 1 yard out to pull Parkview within 18-7 with 6:02 left in the second quarter. But Wallace's 1-yard run with 2:18 remaining in the first half stretched Benton's lead to 25-7.
Allmon threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Tyrell Hadley to cut the lead to 25-13 with 1:26 left in the second quarter.
Benton responded as Tristan Hutchinson returned the ensuing kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown to give the Panthers a 32-13 lead with 1:13 remaining in the first half.
Parkview pulled within 32-19 with one second remaining in the half when Allmon found Keaton Richardson for a 19-yard touchdown pass.
Trevon Hadley's 11-yard touchdown run capped a 10-play, 82-yard drive to open the third quarter as Parkview cut Benton's lead to 32-25 with 8:48 to play in the quarter.
Sports on 09/09/2017