Bentonville West moves to 6-0
SPRINGDALE — The 7A-West’s lone unbeaten team happens to be its freshest face.
Bentonville West improved to 6-0 Friday night with a 45-29 victory at Springdale. The victory moved the Wolverines to the top of the conference at 3-0 with Bentonville, but the Tigers have dropped a pair of nonconference games.
“It means a lot to our program,” Bentonville West Coach Bryan Pratt said of his team’s start. “But our goal wasn’t to be 6-0. No one really cares about that; they want to know who’s going to be playing in November and December.
“I guarantee you after what happened tonight, HarBer will have itself ready to go, and it’ll be a tough place to walk into next Friday night. But we’re really proud of where we’re at as a program, and we’re not finished.”
Friday’s game also turned into a showcase for junior receiver Jadon Jackson, who finished with 9 catches for 249 yards and 3 touchdowns, including a 44-yard score with less than five minutes to play to set the final score.
“He’s a great player, man, and we’re going to try to get him the ball as much as possible,” Pratt said of Jackson. “He’s almost in my head half the time as we’re calling plays, and he knows exactly what we’re wanting to accomplish.”
Jackson began his night with a 55-yard touchdown catch on Bentonville West’s second play from scrimmage to help the Wolverines jump to a 10-0 lead. He later added a 12-yard scoring grab early in the second quarter, and he later had an 88-yard kickoff return for a score called back by penalty.
“It actually feels good,” Jackson said. “I tried to go out, have a big game, help the team out and get a dub. We’re pretty excited about [being 6-0] because last year we were the underdogs. We came in as underdogs this year, and now we’re on top.”
Bentonville West quarterback Will Jarrett threw for 404 yards and 3 touchdowns, and running back Tyreese Smallwood rushed for 145 yards and 3 touchdowns for the Wolverines.
For Springdale, quarterback Layne Hutchins threw three touchdown passes in the loss. He found Kamond Robinson for a 16-yard score in the first quarter, hit Jaden Cornelius over the middle for a 29-yard touchdown, and found Mason Hutchins from 1 yard out before halftime.
Springdale sophomore running back Darrell Parchman had the most productive night of his career, rushing for a 14-yard touchdown and catching three passes from Hutchins for 49 yards.
“He really played hard; he’s hard to tackle,” Springdale Coach Zak Clark said of Parchman. “He played outstanding. And I know nobody likes to lose, but I’m proud of the kids. The scoreboard may not show it, but I thought we played well.”