Lyons, Tigers fly right by Bulldogs

BENTONVILLE — The first pass Nathan Lyons threw Friday night went for 3 yards, and his second one actually negated the previous yardage.

But Bentonville’s senior quarterback continued to fire away, and Springdale had no answer. Lyons threw for 298 yards in the first half and completed touchdown passes to four different receivers as the Tigers rolled to a 49-21 victory in 7A-West Conference play at Tiger Stadium.

“They did a good job stopping us on the first two passes, and we sort of shot ourselves in the foot a little,” said Lyons, who finished with 313 yards on 22-of-29 passing — all season highs. “We just have to learn to play from the beginning until the end of the whistle.

“I had a good night, and I give all my thanks to that offensive line. They protected me all night long, and Springdale has a big defensive lineman. He wasn’t even a factor, and we picked on Springdale’s defense a little bit.”

Lyons kept the opening drive alive when he hit Kam’Ron Mays-Hunt with a 21-yard pass, then capped it with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Harrison Campbell with 8:10 left in the first quarter. After the Bulldogs (4-3,

1-3 7A-West) matched Bentonville’s score with a 1-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Lopez, Lyons needed just 61 seconds to hit Mays-Hunt with a 64-yard touchdown pass as the Tigers (5-2, 4-0) took the lead for good with 4:02 left in the first quarter.

Lyons continued his hot hand in the second quarter when he tossed a 47-yard touchdown pass to Easton Miller with 8:10 before halftime, then he connected with Tyler Johnson on an 18-yard touchdown pass less than two minutes later for a 28-7 Tigers lead.

“We had a game plan that we believed in, and that’s what we stuck with,” Bentonville Coach Jody Grant said. “I’ll be honest with you — I thought Nathan operated really good, as our offense did. If that performance doesn’t earn that dude some player of the week awards, I don’t know what will.”