Tigers too much for Pointers in 44-0 rout

Bentonville’s special teams play was just as good as its defense on Friday night. Both accounted for a touchdown along with shutting down Van Buren’s offense in a 44-0 win at Blakemore Field at Citizens Bank Field. Bentonville (2-3, 2-0 7A-West) turned the ball over on its first two series before putting together drives that accounted for a field goal and a touchdown for a 10-0 lead. The special teams and defense then accounted for two touchdowns within a 28-second span that punctuated Bentonville’s dominance. “We challenged our defense early on to come out there and get after them,” Bentonville head coach Jody Grant said. “That’s a team that came in with some confidence. If you give a team like that some hope, they’ll hang around and they did a little bit. First half, our special teams and defense did some good things.” Landrey Wilkinson and Cha’Raun Page ended Bentonville’s first two drives with fumble recoveries. “The defense played lights out the first half, exactly the way we wanted them to play,” Van Buren head coach Casey Dick said. “Minus a couple of mistakes, here or there. We’ve got to continue to learn from those and capitalize on those and put the pedal and go.” Sam Younger put Bentonville up, 3-0, with a 43-yard field goal with 3:52 left in the first quarter on the Tigers’ third possession. Colby Ried capped an eight-play scoring drive with a 5-yard run on the first play of the second quarter for a 10-0 lead. Late in the first quarter, Harrison Campbell gathered in a punt at his own 20, escaped a couple of possible tackles and ran around the left side and down the sideline for a touchdown with 2:46 left before the half to push Bentonville up, 17-0. Four plays later, Levi Bennett intercepted a pass and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown 18 seconds later for a 23-0 lead, which stood at the half. “We’ve got to learn to limit those self-infliction wounds that we have against good teams,” Dick said. “You can’t afford to do those. You can’t afford to give a team like that anything, you have to make them earn them. Hats off to them, I thought they played great and had a great game plan.” Bentonville scored on its first three possessions of the second half for a 44-0 lead. Easton Hughes threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Zach Lee, Preston Crawford reeled off a 68-yard touchdown run on a one-play drive, and Hughes threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Smith. Crawford finished with 132 yards on 10 carries. Hughes threw for 175 yards. Bentonville ran for exactly 300 yards. Van Buren (2-3, 1-1) spent most of the night in its own territory, averaging just its own 19 on drive starts on 12 possessions. Four times, the Pointers started inside its own 20. “They had a great plan,” Dick said. “They did a great job. Their kids played super fast. We’ve got to learn to compete from snap one all the way through. That’s the biggest thing.” Van Buren managed just 121 yards in the first half, but finished with 245. Christian Morrow threw for 149 yards and ran for 68 with Jude Bartholomew catching five passes for 62 yards. “On the film that we’ve seen, that’s a good offense, a good receiving corps, a good quarterback,” Grant said. “They do some good stuff. I’m proud of our kids. They present some challenges with what they do offensively. Our kids bought into what our plan was and executed it great.”

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TIGERS TOO MUCH FOR POINTERS IN 44-0 ROUT

LELAND BARCLAY

Times Record | 9/29/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Brian D. Sanderford