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