BENTONVILLE — The Bentonville Tigers allowed 19 points and 280 total yards in the first half of its 56-27 victory over Rogers Heritage last Friday night. The Tigers improved after halftime, but Bentonville coach Barry Lunney said he hoped his defense would produce a more complete effort Friday night against Rogers High.

It wasn’t like the Bentonville defense struggled completely in the first half against the War Eagles.

Senior linebacker Arthur Flowers intercepted a pass from Heritage’s Reed Brown in the first quarter. The Tigers also forced a fumble on a War Eagles kickoff return during the opening 12 minutes, and their secondary broke up five passes before halftime, as well.

Still, Lunney hated to see the Tigers (5-1, 2-1) miss out on several other first-half chances to snag turnovers and force punts.

“There was an inability to make plays,” Lunney said. “We had the ball on our hands two or three for interceptions and didn’t do it, the first one being on the first play of the game (for an 80-yard touchdown pass). Three series in the first half, we had them in third down and at least 15 yards, and they make first downs.

“That was very frustrating. When you have opportunities for turnovers, you have to take them.”

ROGERS — Rogers Heritage coach Perry Escalante hasn’t discussed it with the team, but the War Eagles coach knows that two big goals can be reached with a victory at Bentonville tonight.

A Heritage victory would give the school its first regular-season winning campaign and secure one of the six spots in the Class 7A playoffs from the 7A-West Conference.

But that is easier said than done as the War Eagles (5-0, 2-0 7A-West) face a Bentonville team which fell from the state’s top ranking after a shocking loss to Fort Smith Southside last week.

“There are a lot of things riding on this game but we don’t talk to the kids about that,” Escalante said. “We just have to go over there and play well. Bentonville has a good football program and I’m sure Bentonville is going to be ready for us.

“They turned the ball over against Southside and I’m sure they will take better care of the football.”

Bentonville coach Barry Lunney said the Tigers (4-1, 1-1) will have a hard time staying with Heritage if they repeat the mistakes that were made last week. Bentonville lost two fumbles and had one pass intercepted.

“We operated behind the sticks all night,” Lunney said. “We got sacked a few times on first down. We had second-and-long too often. We just had too many negative plays.”

There is no denying Heritage is on a roll, but tonight’s game will be the toughest test of the season. The War Eagles must contend with a powerful Tigers running attack that is backed up by one of the state’s top offensive lines. Heritage also must defend against a Bentonville passing attack that has been effective.

So what is the War Eagles’ game plan?

In a nutshell, set up the passing game with an effective running attack. Zac Stewart led a 185-yard rushing attack with 129 yards in last week’s 24-9 victory against Rogers High. But most impressive was that the War Eagles averaged almost 5 yards a carry against the Mounties.

Heritage quarterback Reed Brown has passed for more than 1,200 yards and 17 touchdowns and the junior is completing 66 percent of his passes.

“We have to be able to run the football,” Escalante said. “We tried to last year but we couldn’t physically move people like we can this year. If we can get real close (50 percent run-to-pass), we can be pretty successful. If we have to throw it 50 times, bad things are going to happen.”

Lunney said Heritage’s high-octane offense and an undefeated record is a tough combination to handle.

“They’re playing very aggressive and very hard,” Lunney said. “They’re playing with a lot of passion and a lot of confidence. It shows, the way they carry themselves and the way they execute.”

BENTONVILLE — Better to happen now than later in the season.

That was the impression given by the Tigers coaches Wednesday afternoon regarding Bentonville’s 31-21 loss last Friday night at Fort Smith Southside. Bentonville (4-1, 1-1) lost its first game this season, but more importantly, the Tigers found out about the weekly harshness of the 7A-West Conference.

“I think the young men really learned or found out that nobody’s invincible,” Bentonville coach Barry Lunney said. “This league, as I’ve told them, is so tough. I don’t know if we were flat or not, but that’s why this league is so good. You can’t just show up and be unprepared physically or emotionally and win.”

Lunney said the Tigers responded correctly to the defeat with their performance in practice the last few days. Still, he wants to see improvements in every phase of the game Friday night against undefeated Rogers Heritage (5-0, 2-0).

And that includes showing up with more focus.

“Truthfully, I think our guys didn’t think (losing to the Rebels) could happen,” Lunney said. “Part of that is good. Having that confidence is good. But if it goes past that confidence and you think you’re bulletproof, you’re in trouble.

“Then you consider how well Southside played and that we had three turnovers, and you can see how it happened. We just never could get in a rhythm.”

Tony Cherico has been a busy coach this week. Bentonville’s defensive line coach has spent the last few days trying to get the Tigers’ defense ready for its trip Friday night to Fort Smith Southside. And Bentonville coach Barry Lunney said Cherico have succeeded thus far in stressing the right techniques as the Tigers prepare for the physical Rebels.

Bentonville (4-0, 1-0) thwarted Fayetteville’s explosive offense — led by Division I recruit quarterback Brandon Allen — during its 45-10 road victory last Friday night. Defensive linemen Chris Smith, Chase Gogel and Emerson DePeel pressured Allen, while the Tigers’ linebackers and secondary smothered the Bulldogs’ receivers.

The Bulldogs rely mostly on their athletic skill position players, though, and Bentonville will encounter a much different offensive attack Friday night.

“Coach Cherico has been working real hard on getting our guys to keep their pad level down,” Lunney said. “(Fort Smith Southside) has the best running attack we’ll have seen this year. They have great size on the line, and they’re going to try and pound us.

“We really don’t match up all that well since we’re not as big, so we’ll also have to use our quickness when we can.”

Bentonville’s Courtney Haskell can change a game’s momentum about as quickly as he can change directions.

On Friday night, Bentonville and Fayetteville were locked in a 7-7 duel with the Tigers backed up to their own 5-yard line.

Quarterback Pearson Gean hit Haskell out in the left flat, and the senior caught the ball and weaved 95 yards for the touchdown. On the play, Gean was under center and faked the handoff to Haskell over the left side. Gean rolled right, and Haskell continued out into the left flat.

“(Haskell) filters out of the backfield,” Bentonville coach Barry Lunney said. “Gean rolls the other way, and throws it back to him in the (left) flat. He caught it about the 10 or 15, and turned on the jets. The linebacker didn’t pick him up, and they were in man coverage. Sometimes it’s an 8- or 10-yard play. Of course, you hope it turns into a big play.”

Bentonville went on to win 45-10.

Haskell caught three passes for 120 yards and the touchdown and ran for 150 yards and touchdowns of 1 and 72 yards.

“He had an exceptional game,” Lunney said. “He does what he does best. You can’t coach speed.”

Haskell moved to Bentonville the second semester of the last school year. His mother had already lived in Bentonville for three years, and Haskell continued to live with his grandmother in Warren. Haskell’s grandmother moved to Bentonville to be closer to her daughter, Haskell’s mother.

Bentonville has a formidable 1-2 punch at running back with Haskell joining Shane Boedeker in the backfield.

You Gotta ‘Believe’

In its first two season of existence, Rogers Heritage was 3-0 in its nonconference schedule. There were, naturally, naysayers considering the lack of competition from those opponents.

“We still had to go out and play in those games,” Heritage coach Perry Escalante said. “We took what we could find, but they were lining up for us. Everybody was wanting to play us.”

With a predominantly sophomore team last season, Heritage went on to lose all seven conference games.

The War Eagles proved very quickly on Friday that they would not be 0-7 again after a 24-21 win at perennial conference power Fort Smith Northside in the conference opener.

“Our theme this season is ‘Believe,’” Escalante said. “We’ve told them that if they believe in what we’re doing that they will be successful. Friday night verified that. If we play well and execute, then good things are going to happen. They did Friday night.”

Heritage gave up 552 yards to Northside, but the defense turned in outstanding performances to turn the Grizzlies away on their final four possessions.

Jimmy Britton intercepted a Northside pass in the end zone on the game’s final play to preserve the win. Sam Mayhall intercepted passes on Northside’s two previous possessions, and Heritage’s defense stuffed Northside on fourth down on the drive before that.

“It doesn’t matter if you run up the down the field, if you don’t score it doesn’t mean much,” Escalante said. “We shut them out the second half.”

Heritage only scored two offensive touchdowns, but that coupled with 30- and 31-yard field goals by Hayden Severs, and a determined defense was enough to put Heritage atop the conference standings.

“They out-athleted us at times,” said Escalante. “We created turnovers, and that gave us an opportunity to win.”

In four games this season, Heritage has committed zero turnovers and is already plus-10 in turnovers.

“You go back and look at great teams in football history, and they get beat when they turn the ball over,” Escalante said. “We have a good football team. If we play well and don’t turn the ball over, we have a chance to win.”

Rivalry Night, Part II

Springdale High and Springdale Har-Ber squared off last week, now it’s time for Rogers’ intra-city rivalry as well as the annual Battle of the Bulldogs between Fayetteville’s purple ones and Springdale’s red ones.

This may be the final year of a friendly feud between the city limits of Rogers.

“When this group graduates, it will really get into an intense rivalry,” Escalante said. “It’s really not for the players now. It’s just a conference game.”

Seniors for both teams were teammates as sophomores in 2007 before the split of schools.

For now, it’s just another conference game. Rogers High will try to even its league record while Heritage will try to move to 2-0.

Springdale and Fayetteville will both be looking for their first conference win in their annual battle.

That Figures

0 — Passing touchdowns allowed by Bentonville this season
0 — Turnovers committed by Rogers Heritage this season
4.42 — Seconds to run 100 meters by Courtney Haskell as electronically timed when he stepped on the campus at Bentonville in January
104 — Yards gained by opponents on the ground this season against Springdale Har-Ber
552 — Yards of offense by Northside against Heritage on Friday, the most ever for the losing team in a 7A-West Conference game

BENTONVILLE — The Bentonville linebackers met in the high school’s spacious coaches’ office last Wednesday and sat down to watch game tape from last year’s game with Nettleton.

Remote in hand, inside linebackers coach David Pollard went through the footage, often hitting the rewind button to stress a point. Many times, he turned to senior Arthur Flowers and demanded more from Bentonville’s only returning defensive starter from last season’s state championship team.

Pollard never complained about Flowers’ intensity, but he didn’t hesitate to challenge Flowers. For example, Pollard boomed, “You’ve got to make sure everyone knows what they’re doing here.” The simple request exemplified how much Bentonville’s coaches are counting on Flowers this season.

“They expect a lot out of me this year, and there’s times when it’s hard to do,” said Flowers, a 6-foot, 230-pounder. “Being the only (starter) back on defense, I have to be the leader out there. I have to be the one guys can come to, and it’s tough, but I’m having a lot of fun with it.”

With its stiffest test of the season thus far tonight at Fayetteville, Flowers’ leadership skills are needed more than ever this week. Bentonville’s defense has allowed only 19 points this season, including shutouts of Conway and Nettleton.

But with junior quarterback Brandon Allen, the Bulldogs will challenge Bentonville’s relatively inexperienced defense. That said, Bentonville defensive coordinator Robbie Jones said the Tigers were fortunate to have Flowers as their “heart of the defense.”

Jones said Flowers, who aspires to play Division I football, has always gotten the most out of his athletic ability. Flowers ranked fourth among Tigers last season with 123 tackles, and he leads the team in total tackles this season.

“He plays above what he probably should,” Jones said. “We expect a lot out of him, and hasn’t disappointed us. He studies a lot of film and is always trying to get better. He leads with his actions.”

Jones said Flowers possesses a “nose for the ball that can’t be coached.”

“He’s always around the football,” Jones said. “He might not always be the first one there, but he usually gets there. He has a lot of football sense.”

Flowers said he has taken his leadership role seriously, telling his teammates to speak with him whenever they have a problem. Of course, Flowers has led in unintentional ways, as well.

Bentonville coach Barry Lunney said Flowers lives his life in a way his teammates can respect. Flowers is involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Lunney said, and never slacks off during practice.

“He can’t coach everybody’s position, and he can’t encourage everyone at the same time,” Lunney said. “But he talks to them and encourages them. He sets an example by what he does at practice, and that’s a big part of leadership.

“Kids are very observant, and how you handle yourself at practice can rub off on them. Everyone can see when a guy’s hustling and giving great effort, and that’s who Arthur is.”

BENTONVILLE — Some of Bentonville’s starters played only a little more than one quarter last Friday night. The Tigers bolted to a 34-point lead in the first quarter of their 54-0 victory over Nettleton, and Bentonville coach Barry Lunney emptied his bench early.

Lunney said Wednesday he realized the Tigers’ starters needed some extra seasoning and conditioning this week in practice. Bentonville (3-0) opens conference action Friday night at Fayetteville.

“It’s obviously crossed my mind, to be honest, them not playing much (against Nettleton),” Lunney said. “So we’ve tried to be a little more physical in practice and press the tempo. We did a little extra running also, and I’m hopeful that’ll help make up for what they missed.”

Senior receiver Sheldon Vanderpool probably could’ve used more time against Nettleton. Vanderpool will be available again Friday night for Bentonville, after making his season debut last Friday with two catches, including a 49-yard touchdown catch from junior Pearson Gean. Vanderpool had fought a nagging ankle injury during the preseason and missed the Tigers’ first two contests.

“He’s another of our big-bodied receivers,” Lunney said. “He’ll help our passing game get better. He’s a little over 6-foot-2, he really improved his speed in track and he’s got experience catching the ball in games.”

Andy Couture is healthy, and it shows.

Couture rushed for 224 yards and four touchdowns, and passed for 223 yards and one score to lead Rogers High to a 62-38 win against Van Buren on Friday. He is this week’s 7A-West Conference Player of the Week.

Couture worked his way into the starting role at quarterback the final six games of his sophomore season, and started the first eight games last year before a torn ligament in his right thumb sidelined him for the final two games.

“He’s overcome some injuries,” Rogers coach Ronnie Peacock said. “He’s played for us for three years. He started some as a sophomore and got hurt last year.”

Couture is the most experienced quarterback in the conference and is the only senior starting at the position in the conference.

“He’s a leader for us,” Peacock said. “He’s a real hard-working kid. He’s diligent in the weight room.”

Friday against Van Buren, Couture did most of his damage with his legs.

“We were just taking advantage of what Van Buren was giving us,” Peacock said. “They were mixing it up with their stunts and dropping people back. He rushed for 224 yards and four touchdowns, and he completed over 50 percent of his passes. He did a real good of running our offense.”

Couture also shredded Van Buren last year with 161 yards passing and a touchdown, and 115 yards rushing with two scores.

“He can run,” Peacock said. “He’s a double threat.”

Rogers has scored 62 points in each of the last two meetings with Van Buren.

Conference Play Begins

Conference play begins this week with Rogers hosting Fort Smith Southside, Fayetteville hosting Bentonville, Fort Smith Northside hosting Rogers Heritage, and Springdale High hosting rival Springdale Har-Ber.

Rogers yielded more than 500 yards twice in nonconference play, giving up 575 in the season-opening loss to Webb City, Mo., and 541 yards to Van Buren last week.

That’s certainly a concern for the Mountaineers.

“Yes, it is,” Peacock said. “We’ve given up some yards. We can’t hide that.”

Rogers is still smarting defensively from the loss of eight starters from last year.

“We can look really good against the run and then can’t stop them,” Peacock said. “We can look really good against the pass and then can’t stop them. We just need to be consistent.”

Southside leads the all-time series against Rogers, 29-13, which began in 1968.

Looking Ahead

The 7A-West teams will have a drastically difference look for nonconference schedules next season as a new two-year cycle begins.

Bentonville could have two new nonconference opponents next year. An appeal by Searcy will be heard this week by the Arkansas Activities Association for next year’s conference alignment. That will affect which conference Conway plays in, which will affect if the Wampus Cats stay on Bentonville’s nonconference schedule.

“The appeal could change a lot of things,” Bentonville coach Barry Lunney said. “There are a lot of tentative games.”

Bentonville and Fort Zumwalt, Mo., have verbally agreed to continue their series. Nettleton was only a two-year deal with both years being played in Bentonville. Kansas City Rockhurst, Texarkana, Texas, or a Tulsa school could fill a playing date as well.

With possibly Conway, Fort Zumwalt and then any of the other possibilities coupled with Fayetteville and Fort Smith Southside to open conference plays gives Bentonville no breathers in the first half of the season.

“That’s a brutal five-game stretch,” Lunney said. “It’s just tough getting games. People don’t want to travel.”

Situated in the corner of the state creates travel problems. Bentonville has also grown into one of the largest schools in the state, and the Tigers are coming off a state championship, so teams in lower classifications shy away from playing them as well. There once was a time when Bentonville was a choice as a lot of team’s homecoming opponent.

“I guess that’s better than everybody calling you up and wanting you on the schedule,” Lunney said.

Undefeated Again

Rogers Heritage is perfect again in nonconference play, but this time there’s a little different attitude.

“We’ve improved,” Heritage coach Perry Escalante said. “The kids are further along. We’re ahead of the game this year.”

Heritage was 3-0 last year in its inaugural season heading into conference play, too.

“Last year, we were so young and so small,” Escalante said.

Heritage’s offense with returning quarterback Reed Brown at the controls has been steady. Brown has already thrown 14 touchdown passes.

“We’re a lot more efficient this year,” Escalante said. “We’ve been consistent on offense and defense, and we’re not shooting ourselves in the foot.”

That may be the most pleasing aspect to Escalante and the War Eagles. Heritage has not committed a turnover this season.

Heritage committed 27 turnovers during the 10-game schedule last season and committed at least two in every game.

Offensive First

Bentonville’s 54-0 win against Nettleton added another entry in the Tigers’ history book.

Coupled with the previous week’s 50-19 win against Fort Zumwalt, it marks the first time in school history in which Bentonville has scored at least 50 points in consecutive games.

The school record for points scored in a game is a 122-0 win against Prairie Grove in 1921.

Remember When?

Springdale started the season atop the Associated Press poll in 2005, stayed number one throughout the season and finished 14-0 to win the state championship?

That was the last time a team went wire-to-wire No. 1 in the poll, and the last time a team started the season No. 1 and finished No. 1.

Bentonville will try to accomplish those feats this season after starting the season as the top-ranked team in the Associated Press poll.

Bentonville is the 15th team from the 7A-West to begin the season No. 1 during the past 24 years. During that time, only nine teams that started the season ranked first actually won the state title.

With Class 4A Shiloh Christian being knocked off on Friday by Greenwood, the talk of a team from a lower classification being ranked No. 1 overall will end. The team that wins the state championship in Class 7A will now undoubtedly be the overall No. 1 at season’s end.

Leland Barclay is the author of the Almanac of Arkansas High School Football. His column appears each Tuesday. E-mail: barclayalmanac@yahoo.com.

BENTONVILLE — A lopsided win can be both a good thing and a bad thing. While coaches obviously are pleased with the win, by the same token key players are usually pulled early and can’t get needed reps.

Such was the case Friday night when No. 2 Bentonville (3-0) crushed outmanned Class 5A Nettleton 54-0. The Tigers starters played less than a half, leaving coach Barry Lunney with some questions about his team defensively heading into the 7A-West Conference opener at Fayetteville next week.

“It would have been good to have been able to leave our guys out there and get a little more,” Lunney said. “But we’ll have a good physical week of work.”

While Lunney said he was happy to be 3-0, he added there are lots of areas of that need improvement.

“Defensively, we’re still a little bit unsure of what we have in some ways,” Lunney said. “But we’re going to find out Friday night. There’s lots of inexperience there and we’d like to have got them some more snaps Friday night going into next week because of (Fayetteville’s) great passing game they have with Allen and those skill people.

“But the real stuff starts now.”

See the Team Info page for roster, schedule, team photo and more…

FAYETTEVILLE — Barry Lunney’s fourth season at Bentonville earned the coach his fifth state championship.

Now the question is what can the Tigers do for an encore? It’s an easy answer for several other 7A-West Conference coaches, who picked Bentonville to win the league this season — despite the Tigers replacing 10 starters on defense.

“The conference is going to go through Bentonville, no doubt,” Springdale Har-Ber coach Chris Wood said. “They may have only one starter back on defense, but they’ll put a good defense out there.

“Just give them enough time to find the kids.”

Bentonville lost just once last season, its regular-season finale at Har-Ber. The Tigers were carried by a defense that allowed an average of just 11.5 points per game.

This season, Bentonville is expected to feature a more explosive attack — led by 10 returning starters and the arrival or senior transfer running back Courtney Haskell from Class 4A Warren.

“Just like last year, when we were the defending state champion, I think you start with Bentonville until someone knocks them off,” said Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton, whose Purple’Dogs were picked to finish third in the conference by the coaches.

“Coach Lunney has got a great thing going there. They’re going to be tough to beat.”

Fayetteville stumbled in its title defense last season, finishing 5-6 with a host of underclassmen at skill positions, including sophomore Brandon Allen. Now a junior, Allen enters this season with 30 Class 7A touchdowns already on his resume along with a scholarship offer from Arkansas.

Patton is hopeful new defensive coordinator Brian Early can help the Purple’Dogs improve after allowing an average of 31.6 points per game a season ago. He also listed Har-Ber along with Bentonville as the top two teams to watch.

“After Bentonville and Har-Ber, you’ve got 3-4 teams lumped together,” Patton said. “We’ve got the skill kids to compete with any of them, but our lack of size could come back to hurt us at some point.”

Fort Smith Southside fell to Bentonville in the championship game last year after defeating Har-Ber in the semifinals, and the Rebels are picked to finish fourth this season. Fort Smith Northside is picked fifth, followed by Springdale High, Rogers Heritage and Rogers High.

“I think it’s going to be as tough as it’s been in a long time,” Southside coach Jeff Williams said.