Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Wolverines rout Mavericks
CENTERTON — After Fort Smith Southside jumped out to the early lead Friday night, Bentonville West coach Bryan Pratt dared his defense to do something about it Friday night. Challenge accepted. The Wolverines didn’t allow the Mavericks into the end zone again, and that allowed West to enjoy its final regular-season home game with a 35-7 7A-West Conference victory.
“They played well, and that goes back to the way we’ve been practicing the last couple of weeks,” Pratt said. “After the loss to Springdale Har-Ber, we went to a lot more competition and a lot more good-on-good. I think that was a by-product of what we saw.
“Offensively, there was just too many mistakes, too many penalties and penalties that cost us big plays. There were turnovers and dropped balls. We’re a good football team, but we have to clean that up.”
West ( 6-3, 4-1 7A-West) kept Southside (2-7, 1-4) well out of scoring range until the Mavericks’ final drive, when Parker Wehunt hit Kale Sheets with a 38-yard pass to the Wolverines 7. Southside then faced fourth-and- goal from the 10, then received a second chance when West was called for pass interference.
The Mavericks, however, came away empty-handed as West linebacker Ariel Bradic sacked Wehunt for a 14-yard
loss and ended the drive. It was just one of several occasions where Wolverine defenders made their way into Southside’s backfield and forced lost yardage.
“Our whole thing is kind of like a phoenix,” Bradic said. “If you get down or fall down, you rise from the ashes. I don’t care if it was the first drive or a beatdown. If we get scored upon, we’re going to rally back, especially on the first one.”
Southside took its lead on Wehunt’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Luke Wyatt with 4 minutes, 44 seconds in the first quarter, but it only lasted for 13 seconds. Sophomore Ty Durham then took the ensuing kick and raced 94 yards for the tying score.
Durham also had a 51-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to extend West’s lead to 28-7 in the third quarter, and he also had to play on defense. West was already
without an injured A.J. Moss, then lost another defensive back after he was quarantined earlier in the week.
“Ty Durham was unbelievable,” Pratt said. “I don’t know if you noticed, but he played pretty much every snap — on both sides of the ball and on special teams. He had a huge kickoff return, a huge touchdown catch and played great on defense.”
FOUR DOWNS
• West now has sole possession of second place in the 7A-West with its win, coupled with Rogers’ victory over Springdale Har-Ber. It keeps the Wolverines in contention for a share of the league title.
• Dalton McDonald and Stephen Dyson, a pair of seniors, hooked up for a pair of touchdowns to give the Wolverines a 21-7 halftime cushion. The two connected on a 5-yard pass 16 seconds into the second quarter, then connected on a 8-yard pass with 2:10 remaining.
• McDonald also closed out the scoring with a 19-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
• Both teams will close out the regular season with 7A-West games as Southside hosts Springdale High while Bentonville West makes the short trip to Bentonville.