BENTONVILLE -- It was Conway's opportunity to take control of the game Friday night, and the Wampus Cats wasted little time making it happen.
One play after Conway's defense recovered a Bentonville High fumble, Andrew Hreha connected with Nick Richmond for a 39-yard touchdown pass, and Conway went on to claim a 35-16 victory to spoil the Tigers' home opener.
"We thought that Nick was going to get open," Conway Coach Clint Ashcraft said. "We had Will [McKenna] open earlier and couldn't get it to him. That time, the offensive line gave Andrew time, and he executed. It was on the money."
Richmond's second touchdown reception came less than a minute after Jovoni Johnson scored on a 4-yard run out of the Wildcat formation to give Conway (2-1) a 21-7 lead with 3:24 left in the first half. Bentonville (1-2) closed the gap to 21-10 on Sam Younger's 27-yard field goal seconds before halftime, but Michael George added two touchdowns on fourth-down plays to keep the Wampus Cats in control.
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George bulled in on a fourth and goal from 2 yards out in the third quarter, capping a nine-play, 65-yard drive on Conway's opening possession of the second half. He then added a 31-yard blast down the right sideline on a fourth-and-2 play in the fourth quarter and capped a 10-play, 64-yard drive after Garett Fusilier's interception of a Nathan Lyons' pass.
"I think fourth down is a mentality," Bentonville Coach Jody Grant said. "It's something you buy into and get amped up for. Some of the teams we're playing are doing that, and our kids -- sometimes they do, but it has to be consistent.
"We do things to try to get them excited about stops on third down and fourth down. Truthfully, we knew what they were going to run, and we still couldn't stop it. That's what is disappointing, and we have a lot of work to do."
While Conway enjoyed fourth-down success, Bentonville couldn't convert after driving into Wampus Cats' territory on its first two possessions. Lyons was dropped for a 10-yard loss to end the first drive, and a fourth-and-8 play on the Conway 24 resulted in a 1-yard pass.
The Wampus Cats drove 60 yards after they had stopped the Tigers the first time, and Hreha hit Richmond with an 18-yard touchdown pass with 3:19 left in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead. Bentonville came back in the second quarter and tied the game on Lyons' 23-yard touchdown pass to Easton Miller, which capped a quick 3-play, 61-yard drive with 8:57 before halftime.
Both teams head into conference play next week as Bentonville hosts Fayetteville in a 7A-West Conference showdown, while Conway hosts Fort Smith Southside in 7A-Central action.
Sports on 09/16/2017