SPRINGDALE -- Josh Ficklin said he took it personally when he learned that Springdale Har-Ber had scheduled Bentonville for its homecoming game.
Then the junior running back had his own celebration -- five of them.
Ficklin rushed for 270 yards and scored five touchdowns, leading the Tigers to a 41-21 win in the 7A-West Conference opener at Wildcat Stadium. Ficklin scored on runs of 3, 3, 8, 3 and 4 yards on 37 carries.
"They picked us for homecoming and I didn't really like that," Ficklin said. "That's disrespectful and I didn't like that. You feel me? So I had to turn it on 'em."
Ficklin was charged up from the opening carry when he tore through the Har-Ber defense for 16 yards, then 40 on his second carry. Although Bentonville (3-1, 1-0 7A-West) turned the ball over after reaching the Wildcats' 15 on a miscommunication on a snap, by the time the Tigers punched in their first score, Ficklin already had 91 yards on 5 carries.
Bentonville Coach Jody Grant said his team was able to take advantage of Har-Ber playing its safeties deep and out of the box.
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"It helped that they were running their safeties out there 15 and 20 yards deep," Grant said. "They couldn't fit their safeties in the run game. I still thought they did a good job with their seven-man box, but our back runs hard and our guys up front blocked really well. That was the key. If we were going to run those guys out of there, we had to be able to run the football, and we did."
Har-Ber (0-4, 0-1) tied the game at 7-7 with 6 minutes, 49 seconds left in the first quarter as Drue McClendon's 29-yard return after Ficklin's first touchdown gave the Wildcats excellent field position at the Har-Ber 43. Quarterback Luke Buchanan directed the scoring drive, ripping off a 20-yard run, then firing a laser to Peyton McKee on a 16-yard scoring strike.
Bentonville had three possessions in the red zone and came away with two Logan Tymeson field goals of 28 and 32, with a 35-yard miss in between as the Tigers grabbed a 13-7 lead.
A Har-Ber interception late in the second quarter started a two-touchdown flurry as the Tigers grabbed a 27-7 halftime lead. Bentonville's John Thomas Tomescko picked off Buchanan near midfield that led to a Ficklin touchdown, then the Tigers drove 74 yards in 9 plays behind three Drew Wright completions, including a 20 yarder to Carson Brown to set up Ficklin's third touchdown with 24 seconds left before halftime.
Har-Ber opened the second half with a crisp drive as Buchanan hit 5 of 7 passes for 71 yards to lead the Wildcats to the Bentonville 7. But the Tigers forced an interception with Mason Middleton picking off Buchanan at the 5 to end the drive.
But the Wildcats came up with a big play of their own as Ross Haney blocked a Tymeson punt at the Tigers' 33, and Hudson Brewer raced 16 yards for a Har-Ber touchdown.
Har-Ber had chances to get even closer. Trailing 34-21, the Wildcats drove inside the Bentonville 35 with a chance to get within a score, but Raef Stalls dropped Brewer for a loss on fourth and 1 and Bentonville sealed the game with Ficklin's fifth score with 3:58 left.
"We executed a lot better in the second half," said Har-Ber Coach Chris Wood. "Really it was nip-and-tuck in the second half. The big critical play was getting that stop on the plus end. If we find a way to get in the end zone, it's a six-point game. So you never know how the story might have been.
"But hat's off to Bentonville for making a play. You make plays when you have to make plays and Bentonville continued to make plays."