KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Bentonville became a little caught up in playing Kansas City Rockhurst's style of football for a majority of the first half.
So the Tigers were determined the second half would belong to them, and it did.
Bentonville took control with 23 unanswered points, and its defense delivered two big turnovers en route to a convincing 30-7 victory Friday night to end nonconference play at Severino Field.
"We made a commitment at halftime that we were going to take advantage of our offensive possessions," Bentonville Coach Jody Grant said. "In the third quarter, our guys really embraced that and it turned out to be a nice third quarter.
"Our kids played well in the second half, and I am very pleased. Our defense played a good game as a whole, and that's a good team over there. This is good preparation for us. Our offense struggled in the first half, but we got our back going and that got some other things going."
Tigers tailback Josh Ficklin was held to just 24 yards in the first half, but the senior had two long touchdown runs and finished with 142 yards on 17 carries. His second carry of the second half turned into a 65-yard touchdown and gave Bentonville (2-1) a 13-7 lead with 9:13 left in the third quarter.
With the Tigers facing a third-and-8, quarterback Carter Nye began to roll to his right before he handed the ball to Ficklin, who took off the other direction. He was past the entire Rockhurst defense by the time he reached the Hawklets' 35 and continued to pull away.
"We worked on that all during practice," Ficklin said. "We got things fixed and got everything right. It was a good counter play, and I'm glad we executed it well.
"I want to credit my O-line for sure. We came out of halftime strong. We had a lot of assignments we needed to fix, and we got them fixed. So definitely want to credit that O-line."
Meanwhile, Bentonville's defense -- which had allowed more than 600 yards per game prior to Friday -- became a stingy unit. The Tigers allowed the Hawklets (1-3) to gain 32 yards in the second half and 171 yards for the game.
Bentonville forced a quick three-and-out on Rockhurst's next possession, then Nye -- who completed 17 of 23 passes for 236 yards -- hit C.J. Brown with a 70-yard touchdown pass to make it a 20-7 game with 7:17 left in the third quarter. J.T. Tomescko then intercepted a pass on the Hawklets' next offensive play, and the Tigers recovered a fumble to set up Ficklin's 30-yard touchdown run at the 3:18 mark.
"We got some crucial turnovers when we needed them and we did some good things," Grant said. "We tackled a lot better, so all of that is great."
Bentonville jumped out to a 7-0 lead on its opening drive as Nye hit Eli Brooks with a 45-yard touchdown pass, but missed a field-goal attempt after a fumble that could have extended the lead. Rockhurst then controlled the ball for most of the first half, and Aiden Ryan's 5-yard touchdown run with 39 seconds left before halftime capped a 15-play, 82-yard drive that chewed up almost 8 minutes off the clock.
The Tigers will turn their attention to 7A-West Conference play next week with a home game against Springdale Har-Ber.