Bentonville's recent blowout wins against Fort Smith Southside and Rogers Heritage gave Tigers coach Jody Grant the opportunity to look at some of the Tigers' younger players and see how they would perform in varsity action.
It gave those younger players some experience, but there was another reason behind the decision. It allowed Bentonville (5-1, 3-0) to be at or near full strength when it travels to Fayetteville for Friday's big 7A-West Conference showdown at Harmon Field.
"No doubt, we need to be full strength for this one," Grant said. "Hopefully we're at a point where we are at full capacity and get a chance to play a good, quality game. I'm sure this will be a four-quarter football game, and let's see what happens."
Some of those younger players, however, were able to leave a nice impression on Grant during their time on the field. Sophomore receiver Que Brown, who filled in as seniors Cooper Smith and Chas Nimrod were injured, caught four passes for 69 yards and a touchdown in the last two games.
Carter Nye has seen significant time at quarterback and has completed 16 of 20 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown. Grant also pointed out sophomore Ben Pearson with how well he has played on the defensive line.
"There's a couple of these guys that are very talented," Grant said. "We already knew that Que Brown was going to be good, but to see what he has done in the past couple of weeks has been exciting. We had already been playing Ben Pearson some on the defensive line, but now he has elevated that into a starting position.
"C.J. Brown, who we've already been starting as a sophomore, has been able to do some things. We've also let Carter Nye some quality reps the last two weeks, and he's done great. This hasn't been just mop-up minutes. This is an integral part of the game when he's going against a first-team defense."
-- Henry Apple • @NWAHenry
WEST FORK
Tigers grow up during 3A-1 play
West Fork coach Justin Smith points to his team's youth and dealing with COVID-19 as some of the reasons why the Tigers went winless in their three nonconference games.
The 3A-1 Conference season, however, has been much better to West Fork, which is one of three teams that are 2-1 in league play heading into Friday's big game against Cedarville.
"We knew that our nonconference schedule was going to be a bit of a chore," Smith said. "We played two Class 4A opponents and Paris, which is probably ranked in the top 5 or top 10 in Class 3A this year. We knew it was going to be a tough task for us, but I felt like we needed to be pushed in order to get ready for conference play.
"We dealt with some COVID issues during our nonconference games. It prevented our team from gelling early on like we needed to, but we felt like recently we're coming into stride and getting some players moved around. We made some big shifts defensively -- getting more speed on the field more beef in the box -- while offensively, we needed time to see looks because we run the option."
Ross Ivy is only one of five seniors on West Fork's roster, and the tailback has emerged as a leader the Tigers need. He proved instrumental in last week's victory over Lavaca when he ran for 198 yards and four touchdowns.
"Only one of our five seniors has played his entire career, and that's Ross Ivy," Smith said. "We've been leaning on him and his experience. I don't have a senior lineman on either side of the ball and really in the box, in general. That's who we've been counting on."
-- Henry Apple • @NWAHenry
SPRINGDALE
Bulldogs moving forward
Springdale's "Last play, next play" motto will be tested on Friday when the Bulldogs host Rogers in a 7A-West Conference game.
Springdale lost by the slimmest of margins last week when Justin Gomez kicked a 22-yard field goal with three seconds left to give rival Springdale Har-Ber a 37-36 victory over the Bulldogs. It was the second one-point loss for Springdale (1-5, 1-2), which fell 20-19 in a non-conference game against Farmington.
Narrow defeats can demoralize a team, but the Bulldogs can't afford to let the negativity linger with Rogers (4-1, 2-1) in town for an important league game.
"That was a heart breaker," Springdale coach Brett Hobbs said of last week's loss. "But it should make us even hungrier. We have to keep the mentality that, if we keep playing hard, good things will happen. We just have to finish."
Rogers was at a crossroads last week following a 48-13 loss at Fayetteville. Bentonville West built a 14-point lead before the Mounties rallied in the second half for a 33-28 victory. Senior quarterback Noah Goodshield directed the comeback by completing 22 of 30 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns.
"Coach (Chad) Harbison has a great offensive mind and their offensive is explosive," Hobbs said. "Their quarterback is a great player and they have a good running back and receivers as well."
Springdale will attempt to limit Rogers' possessions with a running game that features Da'von Sparks and quarterback Landon Phipps, both seniors. Sparks rushed for 134 yards on 19 carries while Phipps gained 103 yards on 33 attempts.
-- Rick Fires • @NWARick
FARMINGTON
Cardinals get defensive
Defense combined with a strong running game can still win games in this era of fast-paced, pass-heavy offenses.
Caden Elsik rushed for 164 yards and a touchdown and linebacker Cooper Gardenhire had 10 tackles to lead Farmington to a 15-0 victory over Morrilton in 5A-West Conference play. The shutout was the first for Farmington (5-1, 2-1) since 2016, when the Cardinals blasted Huntsville 43-0 in the second game of the season.
More importantly, the win comes on the heels of a 57-28 defeat to Vilonia and provides the Cardinals with renewed confidence with road games at Clarksville and Greenbrier just ahead.
Farmington led 10-0 with just over seven minutes to play when Elsik broke free on a 46-yard touchdown run to secure the victory. Farmington rushed for 240 yards and held Morrilton to 81 yards and less than three yards per carry on the ground.
"It took awhile to get something going but, once we did, it was really, really good," Farmington coach J.R. Eldridge said. "Defensively, our line did an outstanding job. We were able to make tackles better in space."
With the victory, Farmington equals its total from last year when the Cardinals finished 5-6. Clarksville is only 1-5 overall but the Panthers have a dangerous runner in junior Arthur Alvarez, who rushed for over 1,500 yards last year and is averaging 6.4 yards per carry this season.
-- Rick Fires • @NWARick