Wolverines roll over Bulldogs
BENTONVILLE WEST 54, SPRINGDALE 20
SPRINGDALE — Stephen Dyson walked off the football field and shot a glance at his coach before taking a spot on the sideline.
Bentonville West Coach Bryan Pratt made eye contact with his junior receiver who had just fumbled a punt and told Dyson, “You owe me one.”
Dyson squared up with his coach before the first quarter ended, returning a Springdale punt 68 yards for a touchdown as the Wolverines rolled to a 54-20 victory at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium.
“I just lost concentration on that first one and let the ball slip through my hands,” Dyson said. “It was my mistake. You have to have shortterm memory and move on to the next play and don’t let it affect how you play.
“On the return, I got some good blocking on the outside and made a guy miss and just finished it off.”
The Wolverines (3-2, 2-0 7A-West) dominated in every fashion, building a 47-13 lead at halftime and invoking the sportsmanship rule on their opening possession of the second half. West scored touchdowns on a blocked punt return, Dyson’s conventional punt return and two long touchdown passes in the first half.
The two special teams scores were highlight plays, but the biggest highlight play came after Springdale capped a 70-yard drive with a touchdown to pull within 23-6 with 9:38 left in the second quarter.
West senior Nick Whitlach took a handoff and ran through a gaping hole in the Springdale defense. Whitlach, an all-state track athlete, dashed through the Bulldogs’ secondary and ran away from every defender on an 80-yard run.
“A lot of our guys are multi-sport guys, and that’s what makes us special … we have multiple guys who play multiple sports,” Pratt said. “That’s a cool thing that you don’t see a lot in 7A anymore. He’s a really good track runner and has had a lot of success, and the track coaches have done a really good job developing his speed.”
West quarterback Dalton McDonald played the first half and just one series in the second half. That’s all the junior needed to put up big numbers. McDonald finished the night 7-of-9 passing for 213 yards and 3 touchdowns.
McDonald executed a perfect play-action pass in the first quarter on a 27-yard strike to Brandon Humes. The play-action drew the Springdale secondary in, and Humes was alone behind the defenders and hauled in McDonald’s pass to give the Wolverines a 16-0 lead.
Springdale (3-2, 1-1) had its three-game winning streak snapped, but had a pair of productive drives in the second quarter after being held without a first down in the opening quarter. Darrell Parchman capped both drives with short scoring runs, the second set up by a pair of 15-yard strikes from Conner Hutchins to Ladarius Wonsley. Wonsley, the leading receiver in the 7A-West, finished the night with 7 catches for 91 yards.
“We really tried to come into this game and be balanced,” Pratt said. “We wanted to run the football, but also try to get some balls over the top. Our kids bought into what we’re doing. It’s a long season. I think that week two at Bryant made us a better football team. We understand now how we have to practice and what’s at stake. Right now we’re playing well.”
BENTONVILLE 41, VAN BUREN 21
BENTONVILLE — Bentonville quarterback Ben Pankau threw for 216 yards and three touchdowns as the Tigers celebrated homecoming with a victory over Van Buren.
Pankau hit sophomore receiver Chaz Nimrod with a pair of touchdown passes as the Tigers (5-0, 2-0 7A-West) jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the second quarter. The two made connections for a 48-yard touchdown pass on the fifth play of the game, then they did it again with a 73yard touchdown pass with 10:08 left in the first half.
Van Buren (3-2, 1-1) scored on the ensuing drive as Gary Phillips threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Jaiden Henry, but Bentonville scored 17 more points over the final five minutes of the first half. Logan Turner hit a 32-yard field goal attempt, then Cole Joyce scored on a 2-yard run at the 3:29 mark before Pankau struck again, this time with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Zach Lee for a 38-7 halftime lead.
SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 49, ROGERS HERITAGE 13
ROGERS — Springdale Har-Ber quarterback Blaise Wittschen threw three of his six touchdown passes in less than six minutes to open the second half to lead the Wildcats (3-2, 1-1 7A-West) past Rogers Heritage (0-5, 0-2).
The Wildcats led 21-7 at halftime, but Wittschen struck quickly in the third quarter to put the game away.
Wittschen completed 15 of 19 passes for 280 yards and 6 touchdowns.
FAYETTEVILLE 47, ROGERS 7
FAYETTEVILLE — Hank Gibbs finished 17-of-21 passing for 228 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead Fayetteville (2-3, 1-1 7A-West) past Rogers (0-5, 0-2).
Connor Flannigan caught eight passes for 93 yards for the Bulldogs, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Isaiah Sategna had seven catches for 87 yards.
Hunter Loyd had a touchdown pass for the Mounties.