Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Timely Tigers TD
Campbell’s late touchdown catch lifts Bentonville past Fayetteville
BENTONVILLE HIGH 24, FAYETTEVILLE 20
BENTONVILLE — Jody Grant just wanted Harrison Campbell to get into field-goal range and give Bentonville a chance to force a tie as time ticked away Friday night.
The Tigers’ senior receiver did one better. Campbell hauled in the pass from Easton Hughes, then headed down the left sideline and scored with 47 seconds left as Bentonville earned its 13th consecutive regular-season victory over Fayetteville with a 24-20 decision at Tiger Stadium.
“I told our kids all week we would have to play well,” Grant said. “It was going to be a four-quarter football game, and that’s exactly what it was.
“It was a heck of a football game just to watch. It was exciting for everybody. I was pleased with the way our offense played on that last series.”
Montell Berry’s 10-yard touchdown run with 3 minutes, 8 seconds remaining gave Fayetteville (5-2, 2-2 7A-West Conference) a 20-17 lead, but Huxley’s Richardson extra-point attempt was blocked. That left the score at 20-17, meaning Bentonville (4-3, 4-0) could tie with a field goal.
The Tigers needed an 11-yard run by Preston Crawford on fourth-and-1 to keep the drive alive, but quarterback Easton Hughes was sacked on the next play. That’s when Bentonville went to Campbell, who caught the ball in the middle of the field inside the Fayetteville 40, then broke to his left for the sideline before he dove into the end zone with 47 seconds remaining.
“I was slanting in on our scissor route,” Campbell said. “I took the middle, and there were two guys down there. I made sure I caught the ball first and looked down the field. I knew I had to break them off, then get down to that sideline.
“Once I got to the sideline, I saw just one guy left. I knew if I could lay out, I could probably get in the end zone. It was close. It is indescribable to lay out and you see those hands go up. You run to the sideline, and you can hear everybody screaming and know you contributed something to the team.”
Fayetteville took the ensuing kickoff and moved from its 20 to its 47 after a 9-yard pass from Darius Bowers to Beau Stuckey with 5 seconds left. The Bulldogs’ final play, however, just went backward after a number of laterals and Connor Flannigan was ruled down inside the Fayetteville 20 as time expired.
The loss ruined the return of Bowers, who had sat out the last four games with a
knee injury. He completed 17 of 27 passes for 276 yards and threw two touchdowns to Stuckey — an 87-yard strike in the first quarter and 13-yard pass in the third quarter that gave the Bulldogs a 14-10 lead with 5:48 remaining in the third quarter.
“We let them stay in it,” Fayetteville coach Billy Dawson said. “We missed three red zone opportunities. They beat us on the scoreboard, but that’s about the only spot. They did a nice job on that last drive, but we didn’t tackle that well.”