Bentonville is returning to a familiar place.
The Tigers are in the Class 7A state championship game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock for the first time since 2014, when they won a second consecutive title and their fifth overall.
Bentonville (10-2) will play North Little Rock (12-0) at noon Saturday. The Tigers will attempt to win their sixth state title, but first with Jody Grant, who was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach in 2015 to replace Barry Lunney Sr.
"It feels good to be back," Grant said. "It was time. We needed to get back here to play on a regular basis."
Senior quarterback Nathan Lyons has passed for more than 2,200 yards with 27 touchdowns. Lyons threw for 262 yards and 2 touchdowns in Bentonville's 44-14 victory over Bryant on Friday in the Class 7A semifinals.
"He's been awesome," Grant said of Lyons, who has signed to play baseball at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. "He's just a really talented football player."
Lyons' top wide receiver is senior Kamron Mays-Hunt. Mays-Hunt, a University of Arkansas, Fayetteville baseball signee, has caught 12 touchdown passes this season.
Bentonville was 1-2 during its nonconference schedule with losses to Kansas City (Mo.) Rockhurst and Conway. But the Tigers finished 7-0 in the 7A-West Conference, including a 37-28 victory over Bentonville West on Nov. 3 to clinch the league's No. 1 seed.
"We weren't playing well," Grant said. "The turnover margin was going the wrong way.
"In our two losses, we turned the ball over four times. We haven't been turning the ball over since. That's a big difference. We're a different team now, there's no doubt about that."
Saturday marks the first meeting between the Tigers and Charging Wildcats since the 2015 Class 7A quarterfinals, which Bentonville won 28-21.
North Little Rock, which is led by senior quarterback David Chapple and sophomore running back Brandon Thomas, is 24-1 since its playoff loss to Bentonville two years ago. The Charging Wildcats, under Coach Jamie Mitchell, have won two consecutive 7A-Central Conference championships and ended the regular season as the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's No. 1 team overall in Class 7A.
Since 2005, a team from the 7A-West has won the Class 7A state title. Grant hopes the Tigers can keep the streak going.
"It's important to continue that," Grant said. "I don't want to be the one who blows that after 12 years. Our program doesn't want to be the one to do that. It's important to us.
"Representing the West is a big deal."
Sports on 11/28/2017