Bentonville, Fayetteville hold another classic in the rain

BENTONVILLE — Even a cold, hard rain on a miserable night couldn’t prevent another classic matchup between Fayetteville and Bentonville High.

“It’s always like this. Always,” said Richey Miller, who wore a heavy coat and a floppy hat while shooting pictures from the sideline.

Miller made his comment just moments after Harrison Campbell took a short pass and scored with 47 seconds left to give Bentonville a 24-20 victory over Fayetteville in a 7A-West Conference thriller.

The win was the fourth consecutive for Bentonville (4-3, 4-0) this year and the 13th straight win over Fayetteville (5-2, 2-2) in a regular-season game. But Friday’s outcome is not a good indicator on how the teams will do in the playoffs.

Fayetteville won the state championship in 2016 after losing 24-21 to Bentonville to open conference play. It was the only loss that season for the Bulldogs, who finished 12-1.

In 2015, Fayetteville lost conference games to Bentonville and Springdale Har-Ber but won the state championship after beating Bentonville in a semifinal game and Springdale Har-Ber in the championship game in Little Rock.

So, there’s a chance Jody Grant’s Tigers and Billy Dawson’s Bulldogs could meet again in the postseason after the 7A-West championship is decided.

“Coach Dawson knows we could meet again,” Grant said. “They got us some and we got them some. It’s happened that way multiple times. But for now, we’re going to try and enjoy this one.”

Oh, and for Bentonville fans who were concerned about the Tigers’ 0-3 start? Bentonville started 0-4 in 2014 and still won a state championship with nine consecutive victories that included two wins over Fayetteville.

“We’re looking to go 7-0 in this conference, so we’ve got to keep moving forward,” Campbell said. “That means every week we’ve got to go 1-0.”

So, Friday’s loss shouldn’t trouble Fayetteville much, especially with the return of senior quarterback Darius Bowers. Bowers started Friday after missing three previous games after suffering an injury at Bryant. Dawson said earlier this week Bowers wouldn’t play until “Darius could be Darius,” and he showed off his running skills in the fourth quarter to lead

a drive that put Fayetteville ahead 20-17 with 3:08 left in the game.

Bentonville appeared in trouble on its last possession, especially after the Tigers were backed up inside their

20 after a penalty. The Tigers also converted on fourth down before Campbell took a short pass and went all the way in for the score.

Dawson said earlier this week Bentonville was still the conference champs until somebody dethrones them. Fayetteville took a good shot at the Tigers, but Bentonville remains tied for first place in the 7A-West after starting the season 0-3.

That should surprise no one least of all Fayetteville, which has rallied before in postseason after defeats.