Van Buren at Bentonville West

The new kid on the block meets the newcomer to the conference.

New Bentonville West, located in Centerton, plays its debut 7A-West game against Van Buren, which is playing its first game in its return to the conference.

Bentonville West is 0-3 in its inaugural season, losing to Pryor, Okla., Little Rock Central and Muskogee, Okla., with a roster of sophomores and juniors.

“They’ve got Bentonville athletes so even though they’ve split they still have Bentonville athletes,” Van Buren head coach Greg Werner said. “They’re pretty impressive for this being their first varsity year.”

The Wolverines are airing it out from their spread formation and have only rushed for 91 yards in three games.

“They throw the ball a lot more than we expected,” Werner said. “They have some receivers out there that really look good and run well.”


Van Buren enters its conference opener off its first win of the season, although they had to wait longer than normal in Friday’s 25-18 win against Siloam Springs after a two-hour weather delay.

“It was so late, we were all ready to go home,” Werner said. “It was good. We don’t feel like we played well at all especially for three quarters, but we showed some guts, and played hard and found a way to win.”

Van Buren will be without fullback Josh Aden for four weeks after suffering an ankle injury Friday.