BENTONVILLE -- Even with Cabot's effective ground game Thursday night, Coach Mike Malham found the perfect opportunity to call a pass play.
Jarrod Barnes found Austin Morse behind Bentonville West's secondary, and they connected for a 36-yard touchdown pass to give the Panthers the lead for good en route to a 62-34 victory over the Wolverines in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs at Tiger Stadium.
Cabot (7-4), the fifth seed from the 7A-Central Conference, advances to a quarterfinal game next week at North Little Rock in a rematch of the regular-season finale Nov. 4. The Panthers, who led 21-3 at halftime, scored with 1:16 remaining, but a failed two-point conversion resulted in a 28-27 loss to the Charging Wildcats (10-0).
"They had players coming up, and we have a lot of play-action passes," Malham said. "We knew the safety was coming hard for the option, and this one time it worked."
The touchdown pass snapped a 14-14 tie with 9:42 left in the first half and was one of two that Barnes threw, but Cabot didn't need any more attempts. Barnes carried 17 times for 202 yards and 3 touchdowns, while fullback Easton Seidl -- who moved to the position two weeks ago from the defensive line -- carried 16 times for 110 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Barnes and Seidl each added touchdown runs in the second quarter to extend Cabot's lead to 35-14 with 2:16 before halftime. Seidl added three more touchdowns and Barnes ran for another in the third quarter as the Panthers built their lead to 62-27 and brought the Arkansas Activities Association's 35-point sportsmanship rule into effect with 1:04 left in the third quarter.
West (3-8), which earned a playoff berth and a home game in its first season, made things interesting late in the first half after Barnes' other pass attempt was tipped and intercepted by James Milholen at the Wolverines 42. Two plays later, Will Jarrett fired deep for Stefan Banda, who grabbed the ball after it was tipped by a Cabot defender and ran in for a 58-yard touchdown pass, making it a 35-20 game with 18.6 seconds left in the first half.
The Wolverines then opened the second half with an onside kick, and Banda recovered it at the Cabot 49. Jarrett, who scored West's first two touchdowns on runs of 5 and 73 yards, hit Jackson Prince with a 1-yard touchdown pass five plays later, and Blake McDoulett's extra point made it a 35-27 game with 10:32 left in the third quarter.
West, however, went back to the onside kick again, and Barnes was there to give Cabot the ball back. Seidl scored three plays later, and the Panthers were on the verge of a blowout.
"We came back in the second half and made a run at it," West Coach Bryan Pratt said. "We made some plays and pulled within eight, but we couldn't seem to get off the field defensively because they're a good football team.
"We weren't stopping them, anyway. If they have to drive 50 yards or 70 yards, we might as well take a chance and see if we can get the ball. We did a pretty good job on it the first time."
Sports on 11/11/2016