Hardison gives Bentonville a boost

STAFF PHOTO J.S. WEDGEWORTH -- Bentonville's Dallas Hardison throws to a reciever Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, to score a touchdown against Springdale High at Tiger Stadium in Bentonville.
STAFF PHOTO J.S. WEDGEWORTH -- Bentonville's Dallas Hardison throws to a reciever Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, to score a touchdown against Springdale High at Tiger Stadium in Bentonville.

— Springdale High did something Friday night that nobody else had done all season: the Red’Dogs defense sacked Dallas Hardison.

The Bentonville quarterback didn’t get mad about it. He just got even.

Hardison dropped back on the next play and connected with Mason Snow for a 57-yard touchdown pass, and the Tigers were on their way to an impressive 48-0 victory in 7A-West Conference action in Tiger Stadium.

Bentonville (9-0, 6-0) already faced a first-and-15 because of a holding penalty on the previous play, which pushed the Tigers back into their territory. Hardison dropped back, but he was met by a pair of Springdale defenders for a 4-yard loss.

“I saw the blitz coming, and I was trying to get rid of it at the last second,” he said of the sack. “They seemed to be bringing six or seven on that play, so they had a couple guys that were unblocked. Springdale had a good scheme going on that play.

“Other than that, I can’t say enough about the offensive line this year. When the first sack comes in Week 9, you know the O-line is doing something right.”

The offensive line did its part on the following play, and Hardison followed suit. He found a wide-open Snow all alone, and the two hooked up for Bentonville’s first score with 7 minutes, 44 seconds left in the first quarter.

“We had a vertical concept called, and they were in a cover-3,” Hardison said. “I was hoping Mason and I were on the same page, that he would stay on the hash, and he did. So we had that little connection on that play.”

That was just the beginning for the Tigers. Hardison connected on 11 of 13 passes and finished with 272 yards and four touchdowns in the first half as Bentonville raced to a 35-0 halftime lead.

“That’s what we’ve been doing, and that is one of the strengths on this team,” Tigers coach Barry Lunney said. “Whether it’s Week 1 or Week 9, one of our strengths has been the ability to throw and catch the football.

“I was real proud of the guys. We ran routes, threw the ball and caught it, and for the most part, the protection was good. It was a good time to do that.”

Springdale (2-7, 2-4) made one serious scoring threat in the second quarter as the Red’Dogs moved the ball from their 27 to the Bentonville 20. They faced a fourth-and-9 at that point, and Bentonville was called for offsides before Christian Garcia booted his 37-yard field goal through the uprights.

A delay penalty, however, caused Springdale to give up the yardage it had just received. This time, Garcia’s kick went wide right, and the Red’Dogs never seriously threatened again.

“When you have some injuries and you don’t come over here with a loaded gun, it’s hard,” said Springdale coach Shane Patrick, who lost starting quarterback Will Whatley when he took an apparent blow to the head late in the opening period.

“Give Bentonville credit; they’re a good football team. We all knew that coming in here. We had some penalties, and we done some things that we hadn’t done in the past two weeks. It kept us from having an opportunity to win.”

Both teams close out the regular season next week at home as Bentonville meets Springdale Har-Ber and Springdale takes on Rogers High.

Gamebreaker

Bentonville 48 Red Bulldogs 0

Why The Tigers won

Quarterback Dallas Hardison completed 11 of 13 passes for 272 yards and four touchdowns in the first half as Bentonville raced to a 35-0 halftime lead.

Why The Red’Dogs lost

Springdale had success moving the ball at times, but its closest scoring threat resulted in Christian Garcia’s 37-yard field-goal attempt going wide right.

7A-WEST CONFERENCE

BENTONVILLE 48, SPRINGDALE HIGH 0

Springdale 0 0 0 0 — 0

Bentonville 21 14 6 7 — 48

First quarter

Bent — Snow 57 pass from Hardison (Crenshaw kick), 7:44

Bent — Wallace 1 run (Crenshaw kick), 2:20

Bent — Snow 8 pass from Hardison (Crenshaw kick), 1:21

Second quarter

Bent — Smith 24 pass from Hardison (Crenshaw kick), 6:32

Bent — Crenshaw 66 pass from Hardison (Crenshaw kick), 2:48

Third quarter

Bent — Murphy 6 run (kick blocked), 4:02

Fourth quarter

Bent — Hernandez 15 run (Wade kick), 6:09

Upcoming Events