Har-Ber falls again
In only its second year as a varsity program, No. 6-ranked Bentonville West earned its biggest road victory yet, routing No. 3 Springdale Har-Ber 37-19. The Wolverines forced four turnovers and sacked Har-Ber’s Grant Allen nine times.
SPRINGDALE — If you didn’t know Bentonville West had arrived, well, now you know.
The second-year Wolverines earned the biggest road victory in their short history Friday night, routing Springdale Har-Ber 37-19 to move to 7-0 on the season and 4-0 in 7A-West Conference play.
West’s defense flexed its muscles, coming away with four Har-Ber turnovers and nine sacks of Wildcats quarterback Grant Allen. Levi Rutherford tallied a pair of sacks, but outside linebacker Kendall Young stole the show, finishing the night with four.
“We were doubted all the way coming in,” said Young, who holds a scholarship offer from Princeton. “Everybody said we didn’t have the defense to play in 7A, but we proved that tonight. And our defensive line came through in the clutch. We proved that tonight, that we can play.”
West’s Nick Whitlatch, Tucker Swoboda and Jason Gloeckler were on the receiving end of Allen’s interceptions, and Chris Busch recovered a Wildcats fumble in the first quarter, which immediately turned into points on quarterback Will Jarrett’s six-yard touchdown pass to a slanting Jadon Jackson. The score put West ahead for good.
The Wolverines also forced Har-Ber to turn the ball over on downs four times, twice in the fourth quarter. And thanks to the constant pressure up front — and a couple of HarBer drops — the Wolverines forced Allen to miss his final five pass attempts and finish 10 of 21 on the night.
“I couldn’t be more pleased,” West coach Bryan Pratt said. “Everyone seems to think because of our offensive style that we don’t play defense very well. I think tonight we showed we can play defense.”
Jarrett finished with roughly 200 yards through the air, throwing for two scores, but running back Tyreese Smallwood capped a memorable night for West with a 36-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run. Prior to the Wolverines’ final drive, the junior rushed for 150 yards, his second consecutive game with 100-plus yards on the ground, and a pair of scores.
“It feels good. We couldn’t have done it without our offensive line,” Smallwood said. “We work hard for this, and now everybody knows who we are. Our coaches push us to the limit, and we knew what we could do, but [people on the outside] didn’t know. But we’ve got to be humble and not forget what got us here is hard work.”
Friday marked the first time the Wildcats (5-2, 2-2) had dropped back-to-back games since its 2014 playoff loss to Bryant and its 2015 season opener against Webb City, Mo.