Through the first nine weeks of the season, Fayetteville had averaged 37.4 points per game.
Then the Bulldogs ran into Bentonville in their regular-season finale last Friday.
Fayetteville committed five turnovers in a 45-2 loss to the Tigers, and fell from a possible No. 1 seed from the 7A-West Conference to the No. 4 seed in the Class 7A playoffs that begin today.
Patton joked that if he was a basketball coach, he would have taken a timeout to stop Bentonville's run.
"Everything we were doing was turning into six points for them, whether it was turnovers or fumbled snaps," Patton said. "We got shell-shocked. ... There was nobody that played worse than I coached. I didn't have them ready. Nobody played well. Nobody coached well. Nobody drove the bus well.
"Give credit to Bentonville."
Being the No. 4 seed hasn't been all bad for Fayetteville in the past. In fact, the Bulldogs have won two of their three state championships from the No. 4 seed, winning in 2007 and 2011.
"We've been in this position before," Patton said. "The No. 4 seed is not a bad one."
Sophomore quarterback Taylor Powell, who took over the starting job officially in Week 4, has completed 113 of 196 passes for 1,656 yards with 11 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.
Patton said that Powell's success as well as backup Jack Lindsey's success starts with the run game, which wasn't effective at Bentonville.
"As they've improved, so has our offense," Patton said. "But we couldn't run the ball Friday night. We weren't creating any holes. We had to turn into an all-pass affair. We paid the price for it."
Fayetteville hosts Cabot in a first-round game today. Cabot Coach Mike Malham, who has won 274 games in his career since 1981, will coach against Fayetteville for the first time today. Today's winner will travel to Conway next Friday.
Patton coached at Bryant Junior High in the early 1990s with several assistants who had played at Cabot. So, Patton ran the exact same playbook as Cabot did, running the Dead-T offense.
"There's not a better coach in the state of Arkansas," Patton said. "He's up there with all the greats who's ever coached here. My gosh, I can't see me doing that. That's a lot of football games."
Cabot has been banged up over the past month, with injuries to sophomore quarterback Jarrod Barnes (thumb) and senior running back/safety Jake Ferguson (meniscus). Barnes has played at running back in recent weeks while Ferguson will miss a fifth consecutive game today.
Patton said he has tremendous respect for what Cabot has done over the years under Malham.
"When the kids are born, they come out running the dive, belly and option," Patton said. "They know the steps. They know the aiming points. That's what Cabot does. We're not going to be playing a team that's soft. They're going to come off harder and faster than anyone we've seen all year."
LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL
RB Hayes out
Little Rock Central will be without junior running back Richard Hayes for the remainder of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, Coach Ellis "Scooter" Register said Thursday.
Hayes was injured during the Tigers' 59-22 loss to North Little Rock last Thursday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock on a running play. He had 799 yards and 10 touchdowns on 150 carries and also caught 15 passes for 164 yards and 3 touchdowns.
"We're certainly going to miss him, there's no question about that," Register said.
Register said that Hayes will have surgery in December.
Edward Robinson and Malcolm Williams will be Central's main running backs today in its Class 7A first-round playoff game against Rogers Heritage at Quigley-Cox Stadium in Little Rock.
"That's why you've got backups," Register said.
Central (6-4) entered the final week of the regular season with a chance to win the 7A/6A-East's No. 1 seed and led North Little Rock 22-14 at halftime, but the Charging Wildcats outscored the Tigers 45-0 in the second half to pull away.
Rogers Heritage (3-7), the No. 6 seed from the 7A-West, is led by senior running back Joey Saucier, who has rushed for 1,057 yards and 9 touchdowns on 163 carries.
"He's an outstanding player," Register said. "He's a concern for us. He's big, too. He can take it to the house. But we feel good about our game plan."
Register said that the Tigers have had to let the loss to North Little Rock go as it prepares to host their first playoff game since 2006.
"It's a new season. We're excited about that, These kids have earned the right to host a playoff game. We feel very good about where we are."
Sports on 11/14/2014