Bentonville High and Bentonville West are involved in huge games in the 7A-West tonight when the pecking order for the state playoffs will begin to clear considerably.
Bentonville High travels to Fayetteville while Bentonville West stays home to face Springdale Har-Ber. Bentonville is the three-time defending conference champions while West has finished second to the Tigers the last two years.
Fayetteville and Bentonville has had some battles, including last season when senior quarterback Darius Bowers returned from an injury to face the Tigers. Bowers was outstanding, but Harrison Campbell caught four passes for 85 yards, including a 56-yard catch-and-run touchdown with 47 seconds left to give Bentonville a 24-20 victory.
Fayetteville is only 3-3 overall this season, but Bowers' replacement, Hank Gibbs, has found the consistency at quarterback he lacked earlier in the season. The 6-foot-6 senior struck quickly against Van Buren when he threw six touchdown passes, all in the first half, during a 46-6 rout over a decent team. Sophomore Isaiah Sategna displayed his potential with five catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns against the Pointers.
Fayetteville will have to play its best game of the year to hang with Bentonville (6-0, 3-0), which is ranked second behind Bryant in Class 7A. Bentonville can make good teams like really bad, like three weeks ago when the Tigers forced five turnovers in a 35-21 win at Springdale Har-Ber.
Bentonville intercepted three passes, recovered two fumbles, blocked a punt and forced an intentional grounding call in the end zone for a safety. The Tigers' continued their standout play on special teams when placekicker Logan Turner made four consecutive field goals.
Bentonville is the most complete team I've seen in the 7A-West, and I don't think that assessment will change tonight.
RICK'S PICK Bentonville
Other games involving teams from Northwest Arkansas (selections are capitalized).
CLASS 7A
Springdale Har-Ber at BENTONVILLE WEST
VAN BUREN at Rogers Heritage
Rogers at SPRINGDALE
Fort Smith Southside at BRYANT
CONWAY at Fort Smith Northside
CLASS 6A
GREENWOOD at Russellville
LAKE HAMILTON at Siloam Springs
CLASS 5A
ALMA at Clarksville
Vilonia at FARMINGTON
Greenbrier at HARRISON
Huntsville at MORRILTON
CLASS 4A
SHILOH CHRISTIAN at Gentry
Berryville at GRAVETTE
Green Forest at LINCOLN
Prairie Grove at PEA RIDGE
Dover at DARDANELLE
Mena at ELKINS
Pottsville at OZARK
WALDRON at Subiaco Academy
CLASS 3A
Lamar at GREENLAND
BOONEVILLE at Mansfield
CHARLESTON at Paris
CEDARVILLE at West Fork
CLASS 2A
Hackett at HECTOR
Lavaca at MAGAZINE
STRONG at Johnson County Westside
LAST WEEK 22-3 (88 percent)
OVERALL 130-33 (80 percent)
Preps Sports on 10/18/2019