Speed puts Bulldogs in control
FAYETTEVILLE 50, VAN BUREN 14
FAYETTEVILLE — Fayetteville’s speed was on full display during Friday’s 50-14 victory against Van Buren at Harmon Field.
The speed came from the one-two punch of Beau Stuckey and Connor Flannigan. The duo, along with Hank Gibbs’ passing and a sack-happy defense, was the difference in the Bulldogs improving to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the 7A-West Conference while the Pointers slipped to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in league play.
“They’re really good football players who can run,” Fayetteville Coach Billy Dawson. “We get caught up sometimes in guys who have a lot of speed, and those guys can really run, but those are two good football players and I thought our quarterback did a nice job of getting the football to them.
“We’re getting better. We played a little cleaner penalty-wise, so I’m proud of where we’re at and the direction we’re heading.”
Gibbs connected on a 21-yard touchdown pass to Luke Charboneau and a 29yard pass to Flannigan to give Fayetteville an early 14-0 lead before Van Buren responded with a 78-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Gary Phillips to Jude Bartholomew.
Three plays after a missed field goal, Gibbs hit Stuckey on a tunnel screen and Stuckey did the rest by slicing through a seam in the defense for a 75yard touchdown sprint.
Van Buren answered when Phillips hooked up with Bartholomew again for a 14-yard scoring strike to make it 21-14.
BENTONVILLE 56, ROGERS HERITAGE 7
ROGERS — Bentonville scored on its first six possessions and held the War Eagles without a first down until the final three minutes of the first half en route to a 7A-West Conference victory at Gates Stadium.
Quarterback Easton Hughes was 11-of-11 passing for 141 yards and 3 touchdowns in just a half of action. He threw touchdown passes of 5, 8 and 11 yards — all in the second quarter.
The senior connected with Dylan Smith for a 5-yard scoring strike on the first play of the second quarter for a 21-0 Bentonville (3-3, 3-0 7A-West) advantage. He added the 8-yard touchdown pass to Sam Golden, and finished with an 11-yard pass to Devin Hearns late in the first half to push the lead to 42-7.
BENTONVILLE WEST 41, ROGERS 14
CENTERTON — Bryan Pratt was about to call a timeout and punt the ball away when a Rogers High penalty changed his mind.
Bentonville West used the extra yardage to go for it on fourth down, and Tyrese Smallwood made it work with a 42-yard touchdown run as the Wolverines celebrated their first homecoming at Wolverine Stadium with a victory over the Mounties in 7A-West Conference action.
Bentonville West (3-3, 3-0 7A-West) already had taken a 7-0 lead after Dalton McDonald’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Stephen Dyson, then the Wolverines had a fourth-and-8 situation from the Rogers 47 on their next drive. After the Mounties were called for offsides, Smallwood — who said he told Pratt to give him the ball on the play — bolted around the right end and scored with 5:38 left in the first quarter.
It was the first of four touchdowns for the senior tailback, who compiled 178 of his 185 rushing yards in the first half. He later ran for 54 yards on a touchdown, then added an 11-yard touchdown run with 27.6 seconds before half to give the Wolverines a 35-0 cushion over Rogers (1-4, 0-3).