BENTONVILLE -- The last thing Bentonville and North Little Rock wanted was a football rematch in August, but it almost happened.
Instead, the Class 7A state finalists will get to take on a pair of Oklahoma powerhouses as part of the "Rumble in the Ozarks" doubleheader today at Tiger Stadium. North Little Rock, the defending state champion, plays Tulsa Booker T. Washington at 4 p.m., while state runner-up Bentonville hosts Midwest City at 7:30 p.m.
Midwest City, Okla. at Bentonville High
Tiger Stadium
KICKOFF 7:30 p.m.
RECORDS Season opener for both teams.
ON THE AIR The game is live-streamed on bentonvillesportsne… and www.yurview.com and will be televised on local Cox cable channel 2076.
BETWEEN THE LINES This is the first meeting between these two schools. … Midwest City, an Oklahoma 6A-II semifinalist last year, returns a high-powered quarterback in Preston Colbert, who threw for more than 3,200 yards and 32 touchdowns last season. … Jerome Brown, a basketball player who joined the football this season, caught multiple TD passes from Colbert in the Bombers’ scrimmage against Norman North and Southmoore. … Midwest City coach Darrell Hall praised his defense for holding Norman North scoreless on a goal-line situation. … Bentonville has won 10 games in each of its three seasons under coach Jody Grant. … The Tigers’ offense features returning starters Harrison Campbell and Dylan Smith at receiver. Campbell caught 37 passes for almost 600 yards and five touchdowns and gives his team trusty hands on punt returns, while Smith added 18 receptions for 329 yards and two scores. … Junior Preston Crawford was pressed into a starting tailback role in the postseason and had 480 yards and seven TDs, including 150 yards and two scores in the Class 7A state championship. … The defense is led by LB Andrew Bartgis, who led Bentonville with 119 tackles last season. … The defensive line is the most experienced with Bryant Parlin and Jack Boettcher returning. … Starting safeties Ben Pankau and Ben Sellers combined for five of Bentonville’s 14 interceptions last season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH Midwest City — QB Preston Colbert (Sr., 6-0, 200); WR Jerome Brown (Sr., 6-1, 200); RB Billy Cooks III (Sr., 5-11, 175); C Omar Estupian (Sr., 5-9, 225); CB Tramon Jackson (Sr., 6-0, 165); LB Christopher Youngblood (Sr., 5-11, 180); LB Jacobi Johnson (Jr., 6-4, 206). Bentonville — WR Harrison Campbell (Sr., 5-11, 185), WR Dylan Smith (Sr., 6-2, 180), RB Preston Crawford (Jr., 6-0, 180), OL Kenny Resta (Sr., 6-1, 270), LB Andrew Bartgis (Sr., 5-9, 170), S Ben Pankau (Jr., 6-1, 165), S Ben Sellers (Jr., 5-9, 160), CB Donté Jones (Sr., 6-0, 180).
HOOTEN’S RANKINGS Bentonville is No. 4 in Class 7A.
HOOTEN’S LINE Bentonville by 1.
OUR TAKE Midwest City 23, Bentonville 20
— HENRY APPLE • @NWAHenry
"I give (Bentonville coach) Jody Grant all the credit in the world for setting this up," North Little Rock coach Jamie Mitchell said Thursday. "I can't imagine a better football setting in the state than this. What we will part of is a good high school football atmosphere, and fans will be in for a great treat with these two games."
North Little Rock and Bentonville both had problems in their search for opponents for their season openers. Grant and Mitchell then agreed that their teams, which played each other in December, would play again in the season opener if they couldn't find opponents by a certain date.
That day came and passed, but Grant discovered Washington and Midwest City were in a similar situation -- playing each other in the opening week, then a possible rematch in the playoffs. He approached those schools to see if they were interested, and they agreed to make the doubleheader work.
"They were very open to playing somebody new, and that's how this whole thing came about," Grant said. "The thought behind playing on a Saturday was we wanted to try to make something the average high school football fan would be drawn in to see.
"We're hoping people will travel from Tulsa, Oklahoma City and North Little Rock, but also attract those from Northwest Arkansas who are fans of the game and make it cool. It's four quality programs meeting on one field for a doubleheader."
North Little Rock returns its trio of running backs in Brandon Thomas -- who ran for 199 yards and two TDs in the title game against Bentonville -- Oscar Adaway and Tyler Day, as well as a trio of offensive linemen. Defensively, the Charging Wildcats are led by Dwain Hunt, who had 73 tackles last year and is an NCAA Division I prospect.
They face a Washington team that many believe can repeat as Oklahoma's 6A-2 state champion. The Bombers sport a cast that includes Dax Hill, the top recruit in Oklahoma and among the best nationwide, as well Oklahoma State commit DJ Jones and running back Thomas Grayson, who announced earlier this week he has withdrawn his commitment to Nebraska and opening his recruitment again.
"We have ourselves quite a handful," Mitchell said. "They are everything coaches hate to see in a season opener because they are an incredibly talented team.
"I think we have built the culture we wanted to develop over the past two years, but I told our team what we did last year won't get us anywhere this season. We have done nothing so far to deserve the ranking we have, and with each new year a team gets to make its footprint on a program. We've got a lot to live up to right now."
Bentonville tuned up for its game last week with a return to the Tulsa Union Gridiron Classic and fell short in a 20-14 decision to the host Redskins. Easton Hughes ran for one touchdown and threw to Preston Crawford for another score in the Tigers' two-quarter segment.
Midwest City is expected to be one of the contenders for the 6A-II crown after the Bombers fell to Bixby in the semifinals. They are led by quarterback Preston Colbert, who threw for more than 3,200 yards and 36 touchdowns, while Elijah Manuel leads the Bombers' defense.
"Overall, we weren't disappointed in how we played in the half," Grant said. "We started a little sluggish offensively, but we got things going. Defensively, we fit there but didn't tackle that great. I think that's pretty common in a scrimmage, but we tackled better than we did in the previous years. We've worked on that and will get better.
"Offensively, they're scary in a sense that their quarterback is as good a quarterback as we will see. He's extremely talented throwing the football as well as running with the ball. They're big up front and, schematically, do a lot of great things. It will be a great test for us."
Preps Basketball on 08/25/2018