Wolverines put up shutout over ’Cats
BENTONVILLE WEST 45, SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 0
SPRINGDALE — Dakota McDonald was in the right place at the right time Friday night.
McDonald’s second-quarter touchdown will show up on the stat sheet as a 13-yard pass from his little brother Dalton McDonald. The pass was actually intended for another receiver, but the ball was tipped around and Dakota pulled the ball in at the back of the end zone.
That was just one play in Bentonville West’s 45-0 victory against Springdale Har-Ber in Wildcat Stadium. The victory was the first shutout in program history for the 3-year-old Wolverines.
“It’s huge to get a shutout any time,” Bentonville West Coach Bryan Pratt said. “Anytime you’re playing in 7A football, it’s tough to get a shutout. They don’t come very often, especially with the running clock and that kind of stuff. Really proud of our young guys. You can see us on the sideline, we really want to coach those guys hard and we want our kids to buy into them just like they buy into our varsity.”
West (4-3, 4-0 7A-West Conference) won its fourth consecutive game — all in conference play — in dominating fashion. The Wolverines intercepted three Har-Ber passes in the first half, two leading to touchdowns, and blocked a punt for a touchdown.
Jonas Higson, who played in his first game back from an injury, said the focus of the Wolverines’ defense was to contain Har-Ber running back Jay Burns, who rushed for 323 yards and four touchdowns last week against Springdale. The unit did just that, holding Burns to 35 yards on 14 carries.
“We knew he had a big game a week before against their crosstown rivals, and we knew that they ran a lot of run plays to our strong side,” Higson said.
“They told me at the beginning of the week it would be a man-check for me. I just had to man-up this week and our game plan worked out really well.”
SPRINGDALE 37, ROGERS 27
ROGERS — Junior Jajuan Boyd intercepted a Hunter Loyd pass and returned it 95 yards for a touchdown to help Springdale grab a victory over Rogers High in Whitey Smith Stadium.
Trailing 31-27, Rogers (1-5, 0-4 7A-West) put together a drive into the Springdale red zone late in the fourth quarter.
But Loyd’s pass on third-and-9 was tipped and Boyd was there for the interception at the Bulldogs 5 and he returned it for the touchdown with 2:04.
The PAT was blocked, but Springdale (6-1, 3-1) held on as the Mounties turned the ball over on downs on their ensuing possession.
Grant Allen passed for 246 yards and a touchdown and also ran for one for Springdale.
VAN BUREN 38, ROGERS HERITAGE 0
VAN BUREN – It had been 755 days since the Van Buren football team had won on its home turf.
But after 10 consecutive losses – dating back to a victory over Rogers Heritage in 2016 – the Pointers gave the fans at Blakemore Field a reason to leave happy again.
Van Buren (3-4, 2-2 7A-West) got stellar defensive play, and a second-half offensive outburst Friday night to blast Rogers Heritage (0-8, 0-4).
The victory also keeps the Pointers alive in the 7A-West race to qualify for the playoffs.
Van Buren’s Gary Phillips ran the ball 10 times for 189 yards, including 2 touchdowns. He also completed 9 of 14 passes for 126 yards and two more touchdowns, both to Jude Bartholomew.