SPRINGDALE -- Bentonville took advantage of five Springdale Har-Ber turnovers and made an early statement that the road to the 7A-West Conference title does still go through Tiger Town.
The Tigers dominated the second half and ran to their fourth straight win 35-21 at Wildcat Stadium in the league opener for both teams.
Bentonville (4-0, 1-0 7A-West) intercepted three Har-Ber passes and recovered a pair of fumbles that were all key plays. Add to that a blocked punt and that was more than enough to help the Tigers roll to the win.
"Our defense got five turnovers, but we were still in a dogfight, so that tells you what kind of team we were up against tonight," Bentonville coach Jody Grant said. "I'm proud of our guys because that is a very dynamic offense over there."
Har-Ber (2-2, 0-1) was able to stay within striking distance for most of the game despite the myriad of mistakes that also included a punt that hit a Wildcat player inside his own 10-yard line. Har-Ber's defense played exceptionally well to keep the game close, Wildcats coach Chris Wood said.
"You look at the score. We turned the ball over five times, we had a safety, we had a punt blocked, we had a fake punt. Bottom line is we had too many mistakes tonight," Wood said. "But the kids played hard and they played hard all the way to the end. When you get a heavyweight matchup like this, it comes down to details and we just weren't clean enough offensively or special teams, but our defense did a great job."
The unsuccessful fake punt on Har-Ber's opening possession at its own 34 led to Bentonville's first touchdown. The Tigers capitalized as Ben Pankau hit Chaz Nimrod for 21 yards, setting up Preston Crawford's 2-yard run with 4 minutes left in the opening quarter.
Har-Ber bounced back to tie the game at 7-7, marching 58 yards in 10 plays. Wildcat quarterback Blaise Wittschen completed three big passes on the drive, twice to Hunter Wood for 18 and 19 yards, then to Errington McRae for 19 to set up Jay Burns' short scoring run with 17 seconds left in the first quarter.
Bentonville scored the next 10 points. The Tigers capped an 80-yard drive with the first of four Logan Turner field goals for a 10-7 lead, then Keegan Stinespring blocked a Har-Ber punt and Crawford scored on the next play on a 21-yard burst.
"For momentum sake and just to get our guys to flip the switch, the punt block was huge," Grant said. "We were pleased with that and it came at a real good time."
Har-Ber battled back to cut the margin to 17-14 at halftime by driving 71 yards in 6 plays. The Wildcats picked up a gutsy first down on fourth and 6 at its own 31 to keep the drive alive, then Wittschen hit Wood for 37 yards to set up another short Burns scoring run with 1:17 left before halftime.
The Tigers committed their only turnover of the game on its next possession when Pankau was sacked and stripped with Keaton Eagle recovering the fumble at the Bentonville 26. But Wittschen was intercepted at the goal line to end the scoring chance.
Another interception on Har-Ber's opening possession of the second half by Kenny Iuso set up Crawford's third touchdown on a 14-yard burst and a 24-14 lead.
Still Har-Ber refused to go away and the Wildcats pulled within 24-21 by marching 80 yards in 11 plays. Wittschen hit McRae for 21 yards, then found Wood in the left corner of the end zone on a 17-yard scoring strike with 4:57 left in the third quarter.
The Wildcats did not score again and Bentonville got a safety by forcing Wittschen into an intentional grounding in the end zone, and three more Turner field goals, including a 40-yarder, to seal the win.
"I'm pleased with our overall football team and the units, but we have to get better at running the football," Grant said. "We've got to establish a more dominant run game and we'll work on that and we'll get there."
Bentonville High 35, Springdale Har-Ber 21
Bentonville 7 10 9 9 — 35
Har-Ber 7 7 7 0 — 21
First Quarter
Bent — P. Crawford 2 run (Turner kick), 4:00.
Har — Burns 5 run (Pena kick), :17.
Second Quarter
Bent — FG Turner 29, 9:49.
Bent — P. Crawford 21 run (Turner kick), 7:58.
Har — Burns 1 run (Pena kick), 1:19.
Third Quarter
Bent — Crawford 14 run (Turner kick), 9:02.
Har — Wood 17 pass from Wittschen (Pena kick), 4:57.
Bent — Safety, 1:47.
Fourth Quarter
Bent — FG Turner 40, 12:00.
Bent — FG Turner 31, 10:59.
Bent — FG Turner 25, 4:38.
Four Downs
• Crawford finished with 108 yards on 18 carries after missing the Tigers' final nonconference game against Tulsa (Okla.) Booker T. Washington.
• Har-Ber senior wide receiver Micah Seawood played in his first game after battling a hamstring injury. Seawood caught two passes for 27 yards in the first half before sitting out most of the second half.
• Felicity Rubio was crowned Har-Ber homecoming queen in a pre-game ceremony.
• Next week, Bentonville will host Van Buren, while Har-Ber will travel to Rogers Heritage.
Sports on 09/28/2019