CENTERTON -- Jaxson Brust made his usual cut toward the Bentonville West sideline, then suddenly made a move and raced upfield.
The Wolverines' receiver made it took easy as the Springdale Har-Ber defender fell near the Wildcats' 20, and Brust hauled in a 49-yard touchdown pass from Jake Casey with 1 minute, 17 seconds left and gave West a wild 46-45 victory over Har-Ber during 7A-West Conference play Friday night at Wolverine Stadium.
Brust's catch completed a wild comeback for the Wolverines, who trailed 45-24 after Cole Carton's 26-yard touchdown run with 10:32 left to play.
"Coach drew it up," Brust said about his game-winning catch. "We had been running the comeback just down the sideline every time. He knew the defender was going to bite on it.
"I hit it one time -- just went up the field, and it was there. It was a great ball, great protection. I made the play, and it was great. When the guy fell down, I just knew I had to make the catch."
West Coach Bryan Pratt admitted he was unsure that the Wolverines (4-3, 2-2) could make a comeback after Carlton's run. But things started to change when Casey hit Ty Durham with a 21-yard touchdown pass, and Carson Morgan's two-point conversion run made it 45-32 with 7:50 remaining.
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Braden Jones then aided West's cause when he recovered the onside kick attempt after the ball hit a Har-Ber player and bounced back toward him. The Wolverines then marched 47 yards in six plays, with Morgan's 6-yard touchdown run and Ethan Grigg's extra-point kick making it a 45-39 game with 6:19 remaining.
"Just to see the heart in our kids and watch them fight back and have a never-quit attitude," Pratt said. "That's what we as coaches try to get them to do."
Har-Ber (2-5, 2-2) did its best to not allow West another chance at the ball. The Wildcats drove from their 20 to the West 47 and pulled off a fake punt on fourth down to keep the drive alive, with Drue McClendon hitting Luke Adams with an 11-yard pass.
But a personal foul on the play pushed Har-Ber back into its territory and Luke Buchanan took a 5-yard loss on first down as West began calling its timeouts. It eventually led to another fourth-down situation, and this time the Wildcats punted and gave the Wolverines the ball on their 15 with 2:08 remaining.
"I said over the headphones that if we can get 2 minutes, we felt like we had a chance and can drive down the field with our style of offense," Pratt said. "Our kids understand the 2-minute drill, and we work at it."
Casey, who completed 27 of 44 passes for 403 yards, completed three passes and helped West get into Har-Ber territory. He then threw a pair of incompletions, including one that just went off Durham's hands on a deep route, before he then connected with Brust with the game-winning pass.
"I was trying to use Ty as a decoy as much as possible there," Pratt said. "They were getting him in three-by-one and rolling the safety over, so I went into two-by-two and bent the inside receiver up the field and hold the safety. Then I put [Brust] on one-on-one on the corner.
"He's going to be a special player, and you can kind of see that. Him dropping that ball never crossed my mind. He's a kid that's going to catch everything, and he's just a competitor. He's not the fastest player, but he has a huge heart."
Har-Ber then took the ensuing kickoff and moved from its 20 to the West 39 with 19 seconds remaining. Buchanan, however, was dropped a yard short of the first-down marker on third down, causing the Wildcats to rush their fourth-down play, and Buchanan's heave toward the end zone was intercepted by Nick Bell at the 6 as time expired.