Sophomore QB aces toughest test so far

FAYETTEVILLE 56, FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 14

FORT SMITH — Fayetteville brought its “A” game to Jim Rowland Stadium on Friday night for its Class 7A semifinals showdown against Fort Smith Southside.

Quarterback Taylor Powell turned in an “A-plus” effort.

Powell completed 20 of 22 passes in the first half for 219 yards and 3 touchdowns as Fayetteville built a four-touchdown lead on its way to a 56-14 victory that moved it into the Class 7A state championship game.

Fayetteville (11-2) will face 7A-West rival Bentonville, which defeated North Little Rock 42-10 on Friday night, for the state title next Saturday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. It will be the fourth time since 2010 Bentonville and Fayetteville have met for the state title.

“[Taylor] played awesome,” Fayetteville Coach Daryl Patton said. “I’m so proud of him. He did not play like a sophomore. He really came out and executed the offense and directed the offense the way we called it.

“I thought [offensive coordinator] Zak Clark did a great job calling plays. We had 10 different guys catch passes in the first half, so we were really distributing the ball and really in all three phases it was a great team win.”

Powell completed all eight pass attempts on Fayetteville’s first possession, a 12-play, 79-yard drive that set the tone for the rest of the night. With the Bulldogs defense dominating Fort Smith Southside on its end, Powell continued his hot hand throughout the first half as he found Drake Wymer, Dre Greenlaw and C.J. O’Grady for touchdown passes before leaving in the second half with the game well in hand.

“It’s amazing how much I’ve grown and developed over the season,” Powell said. “Just with the speed of the game and being able to go through my reads and now not forcing balls, and to my trust receivers and trust what Coach Clark is saying.”

The Rebels (9-3) couldn’t stop Fayetteville’s momentum once the Bulldogs got rolling. Fayetteville led 28-0 going into halftime, and the lead grew from there as two quick turnovers in the third quarter led to a 42-0 lead.

A 21-yard run by Javontae Smith extended the lead to 49-0 before Southside finally broke through with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Clay Tyler to Andrew Barley.

The loss was the largest margin of defeat in Southside’s history, surpassing a 45-13 loss to Bentonville in 2013. Fayetteville has won 12 of its past 13 games against the Rebels, including eight consecutive at Jim Rowland Stadium.

“They really just jumped all over us,” Rebels Coach Jeff Williams said. “No excuses. That’s probably the best they’ve played and the worst we’ve played all year, but that’s part of the playoffs and they’re playing really well.

“We’ve had a great year, and I’m proud of our kids and the year we’ve had. We had one bad game, and we picked a bad time to play it.”

Fayetteville advanced to the state championship game for the fourth time in the past five years and the fifth time in the past eight seasons.