CENTERTON -- Luke Miller scored on a 3-yard run in overtime to give Bentonville West a 34-31 victory over Rogers during 7A-West Conference action Friday night at Wolverine Stadium.
Rogers, which played its first game in three weeks, had to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Yahir Munoz on its overtime possession after three consecutive incomplete passes. Bentonville West (4-2, 2-0) put the ball in Miller's hands two straight times, and he went behind the right side of his offensive line to score.
The Wolverines trailed 28-20 after Christian Francisco's 6-yard touchdown run with 10:45 left in regulation, but Bentonville West took the ensuing kickoff and drove 65 yards in five plays. Carlos Hall ran 27 yards for the score with 8:43 left in regulation.
Dalton McDonald then kept the ball on a two-point conversion as he first rolled right, then retreated to his left before he dove into the end zone to tie the game at 28-28.
Rogers (3-1, 0-1) marched from its 20 to the Bentonville West 21 in 15 plays to chew the clock down inside a minute. The Mounties suffered a 1-yard loss on second down, then a holding call on third down pushed them back to a third-and-24 situation from the Wolverines' 38 with under 30 seconds left.
Francisco hit Noah Goodshield with a 15-yard pass to put Rogers in field-goal range, but Munoz had his 40-yard attempt blocked, and Bentonville West recovered at its 35 with 13 seconds remaining. McDonald then hit Miller with a 15-yard pass to midfield, then fired deep to Landon Gragg, who caught the ball and was tackled at the Rogers' 6 as time expired.
Bentonville West jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter, only to have Rogers cut it to 17-14 at halftime. After Konnor Brown's 25-yard field goal gave the Wolverines a 20-14 cushion, Francisco capped a seven-play, 80-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Pitts, and Munoz added the extra point to give Rogers a 21-20 lead with 1:01 remaining in the third quarter.
Miller finished with 18 carries for 99 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a 4-yard run in the first quarter, and added 3 receptions for 55 yards. Francisco threw for 301 yards on 17-of-38 passing, while Goodshield caught 9 passes for 187 yards.
Bentonville West, which won the first overtime game in school history, could have kicked the extra point in overtime for tiebreaker purposes but chose not to do it.
The two teams combined for 23 penalties for almost 200 yards. Bentonville West had more penalties by a 12-11 margin, but Rogers had 98 yards in penalties to the Wolverines' 97.
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Rogers^7^7^7^7^3^—^31
West^17^0^3^8^6^—^34
First Quarter
West — Durham 20 pass from McDonald (Brown kick), 9:03.
West — FG Brown 37, 6:42.
West — Miller 4 run (Brown kick), 1:54.
Rogers — Shepherd 10 pass from Francisco (Munoz kick), :49.
Second Quarter
Rogers — Francisco 3 run (Munoz kick), 1:44.
Third Quarter
West — FG Brown 25, 4:41.
Rogers — Pitts 8 pass from Francisco (Munoz kick), 1:01.
Fourth Quarter
Rogers — Francisco 6 run (Munoz kick), 10:45
West — Hall 27 run (McDonald run), 4:43
Overtime
Rogers — FG Munoz 27.
West — Miller 1 run.
Henry Apple can be reached at happle@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAHenry.