Wolverines have opportunity against another unbeaten team

Bentonville West made headlines last week when the Wolverines handed a ranked team its first defeat.

Can they do it again?

Fayetteville was undefeated and ranked No. 2 before the Wolverines went into Harmon Stadium and gutted out a 31-28 victory with both teams playing backup quarterbacks. Tonight, West returns home to face Springdale High, which is 4-0 and ranked No. 5 in Class 7A.

A victory by Springdale will sling the Bulldogs upward in the polls and mark their best start since the 2005 team went 14-0 and won the state championship.

No one is suggesting Springdale even remotely resembles that tremendous team, but the Bulldogs are formidable.

Bentonville West (1-3, 1-0) received a jolt of confidence by winning on the road with its star quarterback, Will Jarrett still on crutches and unable to play. Sophomore Dalton McDonald did a good job at quarterback last week and the Wolverines still have top playmakers like Jadon Jackson, Tyrese Smallwood, and Tucker Swoboda, a two-way standout who returned an interception for a touchdown against Fayetteville.

Bentonville West won this game last year, 45-29, but Springdale didn't have on that team players like Brock Pounders and quarterback Grant Allen, who completed 12 of 14 passes for 194 yards and 3 touchdowns in last week's 50-28 win over Rogers Heritage.

Still, the unanswered question is whether the road victory at Fayetteville was a fluke or the start of something big for Bentonville West?

The choice here is option two.

CLASS 7A

RICK'S PICK Bentonville West

Other games involving teams from Northwest Arkansas (selections are capitalized).

BENTONVILLE at Van Buren

FAYETTEVILLE at Rogers High

Rogers Heritage at SPRINGDALE HAR-BER

Cabot at FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE

FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE at Little Rock Central

CLASS 6A

Siloam Springs at BENTON

CLASS 5A

ALMA at Farmington

Clarksville at HARRISON

Huntsville at VILONIA

CLASS 4A

Gentry at BERRYVILLE

PRAIRIE GROVE at Gravette

SHILOH CHRISTIAN at Berryville

Lincoln at PEA RIDGE

Waldron at DARDANELLE

ELKINS at Dover

OZARK at Subiaco Academy

CLASS 3A

West Fork at BOONEVILLE

Cedarville at CHARLESTON

Paris at LAMAR

GREENLAND at Mansfield

CLASS 2A

Western Yell County at HACKETT

Johnson County Westside at HECTOR

Mountainburg at LAVACA

LAST WEEK 22-3 (88 percent)

OVERALL 78-25 (76 percent)

Sports on 09/28/2018

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