Benton bests Cabot in battle of Panthers

BENTON — The Benton Panthers got the best of the Cabot Panthers on Friday night.

Senior Zak Wallace rushed for 277 yards and 2 touchdowns on 25 carries to lead Benton past Cabot 56-41 at Panther Stadium.

Wallace scored on runs of 3 and 89 yards, both in the second half. He also caught a 46-yard touchdown pass.

Junior D’Anthony Harper finished with 178 yards and 1 touchdown on 4 carries and had a 24-yard touchdown reception.

Benton Coach Brad Harris was wanting to see both Wallace and Harper perform well together in the Panthers’ offense. He got his wish Friday.

“In the first two games [against Bryant and Arkadelphia], we didn’t get the run game going like we wanted to,” Harris said. “Our offense has to run through Zak Wallace and D’Anthony Harper. Zak is going to be our guy, but we know we have a great 1-2 punch. They did a great job tonight.”

Also, senior quarterback Colen Morrow completed 17 of 25 passes for 233 yards and 5 touchdowns for Benton.

Overall, Benton outgained Cabot 676-468 as Cabot Coach Mike Malham was denied his 300th coaching victory. Malham, in his 38th and final season at Cabot, entered Friday’s game with 299 victories, second all-time behind Barton’s Frank McClellan (367). “Benton outplayed us,” Malham said. “We could never slow them down.”

Cabot had four fumbles, which led to 28 Benton points.

“I was proud of our defense,” Harris said. “Cabot hadn’t been doing that. Coach Malham said we hadn’t turned the ball over all year, but they did that tonight. We attacked and we were doing good stuff defensively.”

Cabot trailed 21-0 with 5:12 remaining in the second quarter. But senior halfback TJ Rogers, who led his team with 152 rushing yards on 13 carries and 3 touchdowns, scored from 29 yards and 40 yards to pull Cabot within 21-14 with 31 seconds before halftime.

Junior fullback Graham Turner’s 29-yard touchdown run tied the game at 21-21 with 7:52 remaining in the third quarter.

The tie lasted two minutes. Benton responded with Morrow’s 17-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Gavin Wells for a 28-21 lead.

Wallace scored from three yards out with 3:51 left in the third quarter to extend Benton’s lead to 35-21. Then, with 10:37 remaining, Wallace ran 89 yards along the Cabot sideline for his second rushing touchdown to give Benton a 42-21 advantage.

Cabot cut the lead to 4227 with 9:27 left on Rogers’ 51-yard touchdown run. But Morrow’s 46-yard touchdown pass to Wallace increased Benton’s lead to 49-27 with 8:33 left.

Senior halfback Brad Morales rushed for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns (53 and 23 yards) on 8 carries for Cabot. Turner had 112 yards and 1 touchdown on 21 carries.

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Elkins quarterback Quinn McClain (left) carries the ball into the end zone past Huntsville safety Justin Reynolds (right) on Friday for the first varsity touchdown at the newly dedicated John Bunch Jr. Stadium in Elkins. Visit nwadg.com/photos to see more photographs from the game.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/THOMAS METTHE Cabot running back TJ Rogers (right) gets tripped up by Benton cornerback Kelby Caffery during the first quarter of Benton’s 5641 win on Friday at Panther Football Stadium in Benton.