BENTON -- Benton Coach Brad Harris needed a boost at quarterback Friday night, and he got it from a wide receiver to down the Class 6A state champions.
Sophomore Gavin Wells completed 7 of 9 passes for 111 yards and 1 touchdown and carried 16 times for 110 yards to power Benton past Russellville 42-20 in the 6A-West Conference opener at Panther Stadium.
"We lost our quarterback early, and Gavin stepped up," Harris said. "Gavin's a receiver who's gotten some reps back there, but he didn't practice much this week because he's got a hairline fracture in his left hand. So we had to keep him out of contact all week, but he gets thrown into an unfortunate situation and did a great job for us."
Wells stepped in for starting quarterback Colen Morrow, who suffered a left leg injury midway through the first quarter. The junior went down at the 4:38 mark after he was hit hard after his 25-yard run. Morrow was helped to the locker room but later returned to the sideline on crutches.
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But the Panthers churned on behind Wells, who got a lot of help from his teammates. Senior running back Beau Brewer carried 7 times for 65 yards and 4 touchdowns while sophomore running back Zak Wallace ran 16 times for 138 yards for Benton (3-1, 1-0 6A-West), which was outscored 90-31 in two losses to Russellville last season and trailed early Friday before turning the game around. The Panthers finished with 507 yards of offense while holding the Cyclones to 279.
"We talked to our defense about really stepping up and making some plays," Harris said. "They really did a good job. And our offensive line struggled a little bit early, but we wore on [Russellville] all game, which allowed us to get the run game going. Overall, I was really pleased with the way we played."
Russellville (1-3, 0-1) grabbed a 7-0 lead on senior quarterback Rhett Atkins' 7-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Seth Plummer with 9:47 remaining in the opening quarter, but its offense had a hard time sustaining drives after that.
"We came out the gate fast and looked good," Russellville Coach Jeff Weaver said. "We had some opportunities, but then we wound up pressing a little bit, and we weren't able to take advantage of those opportunities."
Atkins finished just 7-of-14 passing for 15 yards but and had a hard time finding open receivers after Russellville's first drive. He was sacked six times.
Senior Ryan Talley came on midway through the third quarter and went 10-of-18 passing for 89 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also ran nine times for 67 yards.
Benton was held scoreless in the first quarter, but Brewer had two 1-yard scoring runs and a 5-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give the Panthers a 21-7 lead at halftime. Brewer's 38-yard touchdown run capped a six-play, 85-yard drive to start the third quarter and pushed the Panthers lead to 28-7.
Russellville trailed 35-7 before it finally showed signs of life, with Talley finishing off a nine-play, 63-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Jaidon Palmer. But Benton responded on the ensuing series when Wells found junior wide receiver Michael Allison for a 30-yard touchdown with 11:53 left in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Talley added a late touchdown pass to set the final score.
Sports on 09/23/2017