VAN BUREN -- Brayden Rivas saw the lone Bentonville West defender in front of him and knew his play would go either for minimal gain or a long way. One quick stiff arm made the latter take place.
Van Buren's senior tailback broke away for 46 yards and scored the go-ahead touchdown, and the Pointers clinched a playoff berth with a 35-30 victory over the Wolverines during 7A-West Conference action at Blakemore Field.
"Honestly, Gary (Phillips) was supposed to pull it, but I saw the outside with one man to beat," Rivas said. "It was just make one guy miss and go score; it was that simple.
"It was going to be a 1-yard gain if he tackled me. I just put a stiff arm out there and kept running. That would be the way it works for me."
Rivas' touchdown run completed a 14-point turnaround for Van Buren (5-4, 3-3 7A-West), which secured the league's No. 5 seed in the Class 7A State Playoffs with the win. West led 24-14 at halftime thanks to Dalton McDonald's 10-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Humes with 4 seconds remaining, but Phillips hit Jude Bartholomew with a 30-yard touchdown pass to make it a 24-21 game.
West (6-3, 5-1) then drove to midfield and was going to go for it on fourth-and-6 when a false start forced the Wolverines to punt. Trey Travis, filling in at punter, snagged a high snap and made a high kick, and the ball had a backspin that was downed just a yard from the line of scrimmage. Rivas then scored on the next play to put Van Buren ahead 28-24 with 5 minutes, 31 seconds left in the third quarter.
"That's what I'm telling these guys -- I'm so proud of them," Van Buren first-year coach Crosby Tuck said. "We go into the locker room, make our adjustments, keep our heads on straight and continue to fight.
"We made a couple of mistakes that let them stretch that lead in the first half. But we're still able to come out and execute the way we did in the second half. It's incredible. These guys have come so far in the last two years. I've been proud of other teams, but I'm proud of how these guys and what they were able to come out and do."
West had the ball three times in Van Buren territory with a chance to regain the lead, but the Wolverines couldn't convert on fourth down each time. A reverse play inside the 10 resulted in a fumble that Giovany Alas recovered, and McDonald stumbled and fell on a play just before he could make a first down near the Pointers' 35.
A Rivas punt pinned the Wolverines to their 26 with 2:01 remaining, but Jaiden Henry's 29-yard interception return after stepping in front of a West receiver gave Van Buren a 35-24 lead with 1:55 left to play. The Wolverines came back and scored on McDonald's 41-yard touchdown pass to Nolan Schmitt with 26 seconds remaining, and the referees ruled a West player touched the ball on the onside kick before it went the required 10 yards.
"We didn't play very well," West coach Bryan Pratt said. "We talked all week about this being a trap game, and we had to make sure we came out and played well. We didn't do it.
"I just told the team we are at a Y. Luckily for us, this game didn't matter in the whole scheme of things, but it doesn't get any easier in the next road. We have to make sure we take care of ourselves in practice. We're a whole lot better football team than the way we played."
VAN BUREN 35, BENTONVILLE WEST 30
West 14 10 0 6 — 30
Van Buren 7 7 14 7 — 35
First Quarter
West — Miller 2 run (Travis kick), 7:03.
West — McDonald 24 run (Travis kick), 3:00.
Van — Newton 22 pass from Phillips (Flores kick), 1:35.
Second Quarter
West — FG Travis 35, 3:15.
Van — Rivas 1 run (Flores kick), :41.
West — Humes 10 pass from McDonald (Travis kick), :04.
Third Quarter
Van — Bartholomew 30 pass from Phillips (Flores kick), 9:03.
Van — Rivas 46 run (Flores kick), 5:31.
Fourth Quarter
Van — Henry 29 interception return (Flores kick), 1:55.
West — Schmitt 41 pass from McDonald (pass fail), :26.
Four Downs
• West jumped out to a 14-0 lead on a 2-yard run by Luke Miller, who returned after a leg injury during nonconference play, and a 24-yard run by McDonald after the Wolverines forced a fumble.
• West, already missing running backs Jonas Higson and Nick Whitlatch with injuries, had its depth shrink more when Trenton Davis -- a converted lineman -- went down in the second quarter and didn't return.
• Van Buren was playing its final regular-season home game as a 7A-West member. The Pointers will head to 6A next season and be in the 6A-West.
• Bentonville West returns home next week for its big game against Bentonville with the 7A-West title and the league's No. 1 seed on the line. Van Buren closes out its regular season at Springdale High.
Preps Sports on 11/02/2019