CENTERTON — Luke Miller scored on a 3-yard run in overtime to give Bentonville West a 34-31 victory over Rogers High 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 in its overtime possession after three straight incomplete passes. West (4-2, 2-0) put the ball in Miller’s hands on 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 minutes, 45 seconds left in regulation. West, however, took the ensuing kickoff and drove 65 yards in just five plays, and 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.
Rogers (3-1, 0-1) then controlled the ball and marched from its 20 to the West 21 in 15 plays and chewed the clock down inside a minute remaining. The Mounties, however, 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 Good-shield with a 15-yard pass to put Rogers in field-goal range, but Munoz had his 40-yard attempt blocked, and 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.
West jumped out to a 17-0 lead early 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 two touchdowns, including a 4-yard run in the first quarter, and added three receptions for 55 yards. Francisco threw for 301 yards on 17-of-38 passing, while Goodshield caught nine passes for 187 yards.
FOUR DOWNS
• West, which won the first overtime game in school history, could have kicked the PAT in overtime for tiebreaker purposes, but chose not to do it.
• The two teams combined for 23 penalties for almost 200 yards.
West had more penalties by a 12-11 margin, but Rogers had 98 yards in penalties to the Wolverines’ 97.
• West thought it was punting on a fourth-down play in the second quarter, but it was actually third down. The down marker was not reset after the Wolverines were flagged for an earlier illegal shift penalty.
• Both teams continue 7A-West play next week as West travels to Springdale Har-Ber, while Rogers hosts Springdale High.
Henry Apple can be reached at happle@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAHenry.