Did you know Kansas State lost 32 consecutive games from 1937 to 1968 to Oklahoma before finally getting a win in Manhattan, Kan., in 1969?
Kansas State owned a five-game winning streak over OU in the 1990s. The Wildcats have also beaten the Sooners in three of the last four years, including a 41-34 victory last year when they finished 10-4 and beat TCU Horned Frogs in the Big 12 championship game.
So, I wouldn’t fret too much about the fact Bentonville West has yet to beat Bentonville High in the seven years the two teams have faced each other. The series became a rivalry in 2017 with a super-charged atmosphere at Tiger Stadium and the stands will be packed again for tonight’s game at Wolverine Stadium in Centerton.
Tonight’s winner between Bentonville (6-3, 5-1) and Bentonville West (7-2, 5-1) will earn the No. 2 seed from the 7A-West Conference and receive a first-round bye for the Class 7A state playoffs. The loser will be the No. 3 seed from the 7A-West and host a first-round playoff game next week.
Both teams are coming off victories with Bentonville beating Springdale 51-10 and Bentonville West rallying on the road past Fort Smith Southside, 24-21. The Wolverines displayed offensive balance and were tough hombres on defense against a team that had scored 77 points the previous week against the Springdale Har-Ber Wildcats.
No team has played better defense the past several years in the 7A-West than Bentonville, which has won five state championships since 2001. But there is some uncertainty for Bentonville on offense, where backup Cole Slepecki has replaced injured starting quarterback Carter Nye the last two games.
Nye’s status for tonight is unknown to me. Regardless of whether Nye plays, Bentonville still has one of the most explosive players in CJ Brown, an Arkansas commit who returned a kickoff for a touchdown last week for the third time this season.
Bentonville West will counter with an offense led by quarterback Dalton Rice, who has thrown for 2,040 yards and 26 touchdowns this season.
Two years ago, a former Benton-ville player asked whether it was accurate to call this series a rivalry since West has yet to beat Bentonville.
I say, yes, and emphatically so.
I felt the emotion, drama and sheer excitement when Bentonville beat West 37-28 as the visiting team in 2017 when Wolverine Stadium had not yet been built. There will come a day when Bentonville West beats Bentonville and it’ll be celebrated by Wolverines past and present.
It just won’t be today.
RICK’S PICK Bentonville (Other games involving teams from our coverage area. The picks are capitalized).
CLASS 7A
FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE at Springdale Rogers Heritage at ROGERS Springdale Har-Ber at FAYETTEVILLE FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE at Little Rock Southwest
CLASS 6A
Little Rock Christian at GREENWOOD Siloam Springs at VAN BUREN
CLASS 5A
FARMINGTON at Prairie Grove HARRISON at Pea Ridge SHILOH CHRISTIAN at Alma
CLASS 4A
Berryville at GREEN FOREST ELKINS at Lincoln GRAVETTE at Gentry Huntsville at OZARK Waldron at MENA Lamar at CENTRAL ARKANSAS CHRISTIAN
CLASS 3A
Cedarville at BOONEVILLE Lavaca at CHARLESTON MANSFIELD at Hackett WEST FORK at Greenland DANVILLE at Paris
CLASS 2A
CONWAY CHRISTIAN at Magazine MOUNTAINBURG at Johnson County Westside LAST WEEK 19-1 (95%) OVERALL 272-42 (86%)