Grizzlies’ defense shines in 30-17 win
BENTONVILLE — Anthony Travis jumped up off the turf and put both arms out to his side, palms down — the signal for an incomplete pass.
It’s a move the Fort Smith Northside senior outside linebacker repeated a lot Friday night.
Northside’s defense put on a dominating performance, holding Bentonville to 30 yards rushing and one touchdown in a 30-17 victory in a Class 7A quarterfinal playoff game at Tiger Stadium.
With the road playoff victory against the No. 1 seed from the 7A-West, the Grizzlies (84) advanced to the semifinals next week at Bryant.
“I think that sounds wonderful,” Northside Coach Mike Falleur said. “I think that sounds so good.”
The Northside defense had plenty to celebrate as the Grizzlies forced two Bentonville special teams turnovers, and Travis came within a whisker of a touchdown when his interception in the second quarter was returned to the Bentonville 1, setting up a touchdown and opening the floodgates to a 27-point onslaught.
“Those guys are fast and they can move,” Falleur said of his swarming defensive front that sacked Bentonville quarterback Easton Hughes five times. “I thought they could cause some problems. Our guys in the secondary, we asked them to play a lot of man and they just battled all night long.”
Bentonville (7-4), which was riding a seven-game winning streak, took an early 3-0 lead on Sam Younger’s 41-yard field goal with 6:46 left in the first quarter. The Tigers were in position to add to that lead on their next possession when they drove to the Northside 30. But a holding penalty and back-to-back sacks by Travis and Raytel Rone moved the Tigers back across midfield and Bentonville did not come close to an offensive touchdown again until the fourth quarter.
Northside drove 45 yards to take a 7-3 lead on Eli Bolton’s 12-yard run, then on Bentonville’s next play, Travis intercepted Hughes’ pass near the line of scrimmage and fought his way to the 1. One play later Jackson King bulled into the end zone for a 14-3 lead.
Bentonville caught new life on the ensuing kickoff as Harrison Campbell returned the kick 94 yards for a touchdown that pulled the Tigers within 14-10.
“The touchdown there, the guy made a cutback on us,” Falleur said. “It happens, but that’s the first time it’s happened to us all year.”
The Grizzlies responded with a 69-yard scoring drive. A key play in the drive was a throw-back lateral from Derrick Wise to J.T. Thorne about 10 yards behind the line. Thorne weaved and fought his way for a 9-yard gain to keep the drive alive. Northside did the rest on the ground, and Wise capped it with a 10-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1.
It was Travis again on the ensuing kickoff when his crushing hit on Preston Crawford caused a fumble and the Grizzlies recovered at the Bentonville 29. Wise hit King on the first play and King held possession of the ball long enough to get the touchdown and a 27-10 lead.
Wise, who finished with 133 yards rushing on 24 carries, controlled the second half. His designed run plays and option pitches kept drives going and the Grizzlies worked the clock to perfection.