7A-WEST

Wright's near-perfect passing carries Bentonville

Bentonville’s Josh Ficklin (right) outruns two Bentonville West defenders Friday during the Tigers’ 56-14 victory over the Wolverines in Centerton. More photos at arkansasonline.com/116benwest/.
(Special to the NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Beach)
Bentonville’s Josh Ficklin (right) outruns two Bentonville West defenders Friday during the Tigers’ 56-14 victory over the Wolverines in Centerton. More photos at arkansasonline.com/116benwest/. (Special to the NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Beach)

CENTERTON -- Drew Wright drifted back a little farther than normal in order to buy himself a little extra time, then he spotted an open Chas Nimrod downfield and lofted a pass toward his senior receiver.

The end result was a 50-yard touchdown pass -- the fourth thrown by the Bentonville senior quarterback to complete a near-perfect first half Friday night -- as the Tigers ended the regular season with a convincing 56-21 victory over 7A-West Conference rival Bentonville West at Wolverine Stadium.

Wright had spent the past few weeks sharing time with Carter Nye, but he responded in a big way when Bentonville Coach Jody Grant put the offense in his hands. The senior completed 13 of 14 passes for 284 yards in the first half alone, capped by his touchdown toss to Nimrod with 9 seconds before halftime.

"They gave me the opportunity to start and play through the whole game, and I just tried to take it and run with it," Wright said. "I'm going to give a lot of credit to Carter Nye. He's going to be an absolutely amazing quarterback throughout these years, and he's a great quarterback right now.

"I just tried to stay with my keys. I saw so many keys come out, and I see Chas, Cooper Smith and C.J. Brown -- some great receivers in space -- and I just tried to give them the ball. I also want to give a shout out to my offensive line because I didn't get touched, and that's what we want."

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Bentonville (8-2, 6-1) already enjoyed 14-0 lead with under a minute to play in the first quarter as Josh Ficklin scored on runs of 5 and 3 yards, both of them coming after West (6-4, 4-3) gambled on fourth-down plays and failed to convert. But when the Tigers' junior tailback fumbled on the second play of the fourth quarter, the Wolverines struck fast as Jake Casey hit Ty Durham with a 26-yard touchdown pass and cut the lead in half.

That's when Wright began to take charge. He needed only four plays to put Bentonville back on the scoreboard, hitting Cooper Smith with a 10-yard touchdown pass, then he fired deep and hit Nimrod with a 56-yard touchdown play right after another failed West fourth-down attempt to make it a 28-7 game with 6:15 before halftime.

"He did a good job," Grant said of Wright, who finished with 301 yards on 15 of 17 passing. "I'm really proud of the young man. He's been resilient through all this and he's been a great leader for us.

"We had some opportunities to take some shots, and we did. He made some great throws, and our guys made some great catches. You can't rule out how good the protection was, and our guys operated real clean. It was fun to watch."

Wright then finished the Tigers' next possession with a 36-yard touchdown pass to Brown, then finished off the first half with his 50-yard strike to Nimrod, who 142 yards on four receptions. The last score came after West had scored on a 7-yard run by Carson Morgan with 46 seconds left in the first half.

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Ficklin, who had 103 yards on 18 carries, then added a 12-yard touchdown run with 7:07 left in the third quarter and forced the running clock to be used. The score came after Johnny Pike intercepted a Casey pass on fourth-down and returned it 56 yards to the West 12.

Bentonville earns the conference's second seed and a first-round bye in the state playoffs, as the Tigers await the winner of next week's game between North Little Rock and Fort Smith Southside. West, meanwhile, drops to the fourth seed with the loss and will host Fort Smith Northside in first-round action next week.

Bentonville quarterback Drew Wright (16) prepares to throw from the pocket Friday during the Tigers’ victory in Centerton.
(Special to the NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Beach)
Bentonville quarterback Drew Wright (16) prepares to throw from the pocket Friday during the Tigers’ victory in Centerton. (Special to the NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Beach)
Cooper Smith (left) of Bentonville hauls in a touchdown reception as Quade Curtis of Bentonville West defends during the first half Friday at Wolverine Stadium in Centerton. 
(Special to the NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Beach)
Cooper Smith (left) of Bentonville hauls in a touchdown reception as Quade Curtis of Bentonville West defends during the first half Friday at Wolverine Stadium in Centerton. (Special to the NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Beach)

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