Benton wins, claims outright 6A-West championship

6A-WEST BENTON 42, VAN BUREN 21

BENTON — Coach Brad Harris had no intention of worrying about what was going on in Greenwood on Friday night. He and his Panthers wanted their outright conference title.

And while it took threeplus quarters to do so, Benton put away pesky Van Buren late, closing strong for a 42-21 win at Everett Field in its regular-season finale.

Although the game was tied at 21-21 in the early stages of the second half, Benton quarterback Stran Smith and Cameron Harris linked up for two scores, reminding everyone what the Panthers’ offense is capable of, even on an offnight.

“Everybody on our team is a dog,” said running back Casey Johnson, who scored twice in the opening half. “We can go to anybody at any time. … We’ve got everybody on the same page this year and we’re just trying to get far, get to the next level and win a championship.”

The Panthers came into the week knowing they had the top seed in the 6A-West locked up. Benton (9-1, 7-0 6A-West) had eked out barn-burning victories against Greenwood and Lake Hamilton the previous two weeks, meaning even a Lake Hamilton win over Greenwood on Friday night wouldn’t knock the Panthers from the No. 1 spot.

The Panthers turned the ball over on downs on their first series, giving the Pointers back the ball after they punted on their opening drive. Van Buren (4-6, 1-6) then marched 76 yards on 13 plays, running nearly eight minutes off the clock before cashing in on a short rushing touchdown by Malachi Henry.

The Panthers answered quickly. On the first play from scrimmage on the ensuing series, Johnson got out wide left and ran untouched for 54 yards to level things at 7-7.

After a Pointer turnover on downs, Benton needed just three plays to score again — two passes from Smith to Cameron Harris totaling 70 yards followed by a 3-yard rush into the end zone by Johnson made it 14-7.

But Van Buren punched right back. A pair of passes from Clark Seeger to Henry, the latter for 34 yards and a touchdown, brought the visitors even once again.

“We came out flat,” Brad Harris said. “We’ve had two really emotional games the last two weeks that we’ve gotten up for. … We hung on tonight.”

An interception by Panthers cornerback Jadin Collinet with less than 30 seconds until halftime allowed Benton to take a 21-14 halftime lead. It didn’t last long, though, as the Pointers recovered an onside kick and needed only six plays to tie the game at 21-21 — yet again on a touchdown pass from Seeger to Henry.

“This was the first season in the four years I’ve been at Van Buren where we came out every single game and gave everything we had the entire time,” Pointers Coach Crosby Tuck said. “[But] we made a lot of mistakes throughout and we’re not good enough [to do that] against a team that’s obviously going to have a great chance to win a state championship.”

Although Van Buren was able to find some holes in the Benton defense, Brad Harris said he wanted to rest safety Chris Barnard, and Harris added that safety Cain Simmons and linebacker Beau Wright are playing through injury as well.

They’ll all have time to rest up as the Panthers now have a bye before their quarterfinal matchup Nov. 19. Benton, as the 6A-West champion, will host the winner of next week’s opening-round contest between Marion and Russellville.

The Panthers haven’t lost since their season opener to 7A powerhouse Bryant.

“[Our first open date] gave us a chance to refocus a little bit and work on ourselves,” Brad Harris said. “Next week, we’re going to get after some fundamentals and try to get better as Panthers.”

“Everybody on our team is a dog. We can go to anybody at any time. … We’ve got everybody on the same page this year and we’re just trying to get far, get to the next level and win a championship.”

Benton running back Casey Johnson, who scored twice in the opening half