BENTONVILLE — The future looks bright in the Bentonville backfield.

At the moment, sophomore DeMarcus Murphy and junior Raymond Shackelferd aren’t asked to provide many meaningful carries. Not with talented seniors Courtney Haskell and Shane Boedeker leading the 7A-West Conference’s top rushing attack.

But during the Tigers’ 48-0 victory Friday night over Rogers High, Murphy and Shackelferd showed what Bentonville’s running game will look like next season. Shackelferd rushed 15 times for a game-high 78 yards and Murphy logged six carries for 24 yards.

“They ran hard. They ran really well,” Lunney said. “I was proud of that. Raymond does a lot of scout team work during the week and runs hard for our defense, so it was good to see. It’s a good reward for them to be able to come in and execute.”

The Bentonville team of Zach Ellis and Matt Tabler is seeded second behind a Central team, but the sophomores won the 7A-West title by knocking off Zach’s older brother, Brandon, and Varun Shah.

Pautsch said he’s happy the elder Ellis’ team is matched against the top Central team.

“Brandon can handle the pressure,” Pautsch said. “He can handle the pressure.”

Two players were suspended prior to the conference tournament, but Brandon Ellis has taken a stronger leadership role, Pautsch said.

“I’ve waited for the last year for him to step up, but he’s done it,” Pautsch said. “Brandon’s really done a great job.”

The Lady Tigers’ doubles team of Kendall Kraus and Amy Anderson come in as the top seed.

“There’s not doubt they’re one of the best doubles team in the state,” Pautsch said. “Amy Anderson is a three-time conference champion.”

Oksana Hillyer, who lost in the state singles finals a year ago, and teammate Morgan Ryan, will be keys to the Lady Tigers’ chances of a sixth state title.

“The (Rebecca) Bailey girl from Mount St. Mary is the best player in the state,” Pautsch said.

Fayetteville’s Rob Hodous could also make a run at a boys singles title. Hodous is the top seed in the draw.

There are also several area players who qualified for the Class 4A Tournament to be played in Arkadelphia.

On the girls’ side, Shiloh Christian’s Alisha Hedgecock will play in the singles draw along with teammates Bailey Riggins and Shannie Suttie, who qualified in doubles. Farmington’s team of Shylene Scott and Plearn Seripumitapap, who won the 4A-1 conference title, will face a team from Nashville.

Shiloh’s Ross Naber and Daniel Evans will play boys doubles, while Shiloh’s Andrew Evans and Farmington’s Blake Cutter qualified in boys singles.

The Tigers forced a punt on the next possession and scored in eight plays on junior Pearson Gean’s 1-yard quarterback sneak. Larimer picked off another Conley pass on Rogers’ first ensuing play, and Bentonville needed only two plays to lead 20-0 when senior Courtney Haskell surged in from 6 yards out.

Haskell’s second touchdown of the night, a 7-yarder late in the first quarter, put the Tigers up 27-0.

Peacock inserted Graham Parker at quarterback late in the first quarter, and the junior did lead the Mounties to four first downs. Still, the Tigers added two more touchdowns in the second quarter and finished the first half with a 257-58 advantage in total yards.

Gean’s 9-yard roll-out touchdown pass to senior Austin Griffith with 46 seconds left in the half ensured the second half would start with a running clock. Gean finished the night 12-of-13 with 126 passing yards, all in the first half.

“It was a struggle for us early (on the ground), and we have to be diverse on offense,” Bentonville coach Barry Lunney said. “The kids caught the ball well, and Pearson threw it well. It was very good offensive execution.”

The only downer for Bentonville: A possible season-ending injury to Hayden Boydston. The senior linebacker suffered an ACL injury to his right knee on the opening kickoff of the second half, and Lunney said he was still awaiting MRI results.

Despite being bummed about Boydston’s injury, Lunney seemed optimistic about the state of his team.

“(Friday night) meant a lot because we’re hitting the stretch right now where we’re competing for a conference championship,” Lunney said. “(Offense, defense and special teams) are going to have to all come together if you want to compete for it, and it was good to see that out there.”

BENTONVILLE 48, ROGERS HIGH 0

Rogers High    0    0    0    0    —    0
Bentonville    27    14    7    0    —    48
First Quarter
Bent — Larimer 33 interception return (Levin kick), 11:07
Bent — Gean 1 run (Levin kick), 5:43
Bent — Haskell 6 run (kick failed), 4:34
Bent — Haskell 7 run (Levin kick), :42
Second Quarter
Bent — Boedeker 5 run (Levin kick), 7:53
Bent — Griffith 9 pass from Gean (Levin kick), :46
Third Quarter
Bent — Shackelferd 2 run (Levin kick), 4:43

Rog    Ben
First Downs    5    22
Rushes-Yards    14-30    45-238
Passing Yards    47    148
Comp-Att-Int    7-14-2    12-13-0
Punts    4-32.3    0
Fumbles-Lost    0-0    2-0
Penalites-Yards    6-32    4-30

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Rogers, Parker 8-29, Austin 2-13, Carpenter 1-2, Conley 1-2, Oller 1-(minus 3), TEAM 1-(minus 13). Bentonville, Shackelferd 15-78, Boedeker 6-69, Haskell 11-45, Murphy 6-24, Gean 4-15, Sanderlin 1-3, Hardison 1-2, McKane 1-2.
PASSING—Rogers, Parker 6-11-0-44, Conley 1-5-2-3. Bentonville, 10-11-0-126, Sanderlin 2-2-0-22.
RECEIVING—Rogers, Melton 3-15, Oller 2-24, Fountain 1-5, Parker 1-3. Bentonville, Edwards 3-40, Gneiting 2-34, Griffith 2-25, Snow 2-23, Trudo 1-10, Cole 1-9, Vanderpool 1-8.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.

If Holden can continue his consistent play this season with Bentonville, Mahan said, the offers will likely start piling up. Not that Holden’s motivation stems from impressing college coaches.

For now, Holden remains content blocking with his four friends up front and opening holes for the 7A-West Conference’s leading rushing attack. Holden said he’ll worry later about his football future. These days, he simply enjoys the comfort level achieved by him, Petersen, junior Marcus Danenhauer and seniors Jonathan Mortensen and Matt Hoffman.

“When you play with guys for a long time, you start to know what they do and they know what you do,” Holden said. “Everything just feels right. We know each other so well. When fronts move around, I’ll say one word, and we’ll all know what we’re doing. It makes it a lot easier.”

Football didn’t initially seem this simple to Holden, however. In fact, he didn’t start playing the sport until the ninth grade. Holden succeeded immediately, even as he appeared lost, using his physicality and what Bentonville coach Barry Lunney calls “outstanding feet” to mask his mental shortcomings.

Mahan and Lunney both remembered the first time they saw Holden at a ninth-grade workout, one of his first-ever football practices.

“You could tell he didn’t really know what was going on,” Mahan said. “But man, he was real strong and real quick.”

Holden quickly ascended up Bentonville’s depth chart, starting by the sixth week of his sophomore season. He has started every game since, constantly providing valuable leadership and crushing blocks for the Tigers.

He gained strength after his freshman and sophomore years — because of a body “that’s built for the weight room,” Mahan said — and mastered Bentonville’s blocking schemes this past summer. Holden’s even started to play defensive tackle the past two weeks, logging about 15 snaps against Fort Smith Southside and Rogers Heritage.

“These first six games, he’s been the most consistent guy on our line,” Mahan said. “He’s played with a passion, and he’s played so physical. I have a lot of trust and confidence in him.”

Holden doesn’t always display the toughness he takes out on opponents

He’s a constant jokester, always quick to make coaches and teammates laugh, often at their own expense. Holden also possesses a love for video games, spending plenty of nights on his Xbox 360, challenging his fellow linemen in online games of Call of Duty.

But every Friday night, he sets the jokes and games aside and becomes the talented guard Mahan pleads with coaches to watch.

“A couple of my friends say I’m different on Friday nights than any other time,” Holden said. “I don’t really realize it. But they say they love me. Apparently, I get pretty intense. The way I think, I’ve got to be that way. I’m only average size, so I have to be aggressive. I have to move forward. If I’m not aggressive, I’ll just be pushed back.”

And Holden rarely lets that happen.

Conference play is just three weeks old, but Bentonville’s Courtney Haskell is the 7A-West Player of the Week for the second time.

Haskell rushed for 225 yards and five touchdowns in Friday’s 56-27 win against Rogers Heritage.

Haskell was the league’s Player of the Week two weeks ago when Bentonville opened conference play with a 45-10 win over Fayetteville.

This past week, Haskell scored on runs of 7, 55, 56, 3 and 11 yards. He had 17 carries. The 55- and 56-yard runs displayed his tremendous abilities.

“They were just our basic zone play,” Bentonville coach Barry Lunney said. “The blocking was good, and he hit the crease. The first one, it was just like it’s drawn up. He used his speed and outran people. The second one, a defender grabbed him with one hand and spun him around. He hit the outside and was gone.”

Haskell wasn’t even 100 percent, physically, for Friday night’s game. He missed practice one day, suffering from a throat and sinus infection. He received a shot Friday morning to help alleviate the symptoms.

BHS Resurgence
After a lackluster performance against Fort Smith Southside, Bentonville’s powerful rushing attack was back on the move against Heritage.

Haskell’s performance, along with running mate Shane Boedeker, who had 27 carries for 157 yards and a 1- and 2-yard touchdown plunge, helped produce 419 yards on the ground on 53 carries and seven rushing touchdowns.

Bentonville suffered no turnovers and punted just once, scoring on eight of nine possessions. The Tigers applied the mercy rule with the continuous running clock.

Bentonville’s offensive line of tackles Chase Peterson and Matt Hoffman, guards Jon-Mark Holden and Marcus Danenhauer, and center Jonathan Mortensen cleared the way on Friday.

“That’s where it all started (against Southside),” Lunney said. “They took it real personal. Southside played real well. They outplayed us. We felt like we were better than what we showed. They went back to work.”

The line is the most experienced unit in Class 7A with 86 career starters led by Holden, who started four games as a sophomore, all 13 last year and all six this year.

Peterson and Danenhauer started all 13 on the way to last year’s state championship as well.

“There’s no doubt about it, we felt like it would be a strong suit going into the season,” Lunney said.

They’ve also had everything thrown at them this year by opposing defenses.

“We’ve seen a lot of different looks,” Lunney said. “Everybody’s trying something different and changing defenses. We have to make adjustments really quick. They’ll be in something we haven’t seen on film or that we haven’t worked on practice.”

The Tigers are sure of one thing when they show up on Friday night.

“Everybody is selling out to stop the run,” Lunney said.

Downright Defensive
Gaudy offensive numbers have certainly been the theme of the decade all around the state, but Springdale Har-Ber has put up some pretty impressive numbers defensively this season.

“We felt like we’d have a solid defense going into the season,” Har-Ber coach Chris Wood said. “They’re an aggressive group of guys. They play hard. They’ve been fun to watch.”

Through six games, Har-Ber has yielded just 153 yards on the ground and 708 passing. That’s just 143.8 yards per game.

“Our goal is the top the run and make (the opposing team) one-dimensional,” Wood said. “We’ve played the run real well.”

Senior noseguard Eric Pearce, who started all 13 games last year, anchors the middle of Har-Ber’s front.

“He doesn’t get enough credit,” Wood said. “He’s the best defensive lineman in this league. He gets double-teamed a lot. He’s the pace-setter of the bunch.”

Linebackers Jacob Bundrick, in the middle, and Preston Cash and Hunter Kissinger provide a solid second-level of defense.

“They’re the three leading tacklers on the team,” Wood said.

Then, of course, there’s Houston Pruitt in the secondary along with Russ Reynerson. Pruitt has started 31 games in his career.

Remember When …
The last time a Bentonville senior class was undefeated against Rogers?

Well, it’s never happened.

The two schools will meet for the 110th time on Friday, and a Bentonville senior class has never swept their rivals from Rogers. The two teams have played consecutively since 1981, and Bentonville has managed a two-year win streak twice during that time.

The two teams also played consecutively from 1938 through 1978 with Bentonville managing a two-year win streak only once. The two were scheduled to meet in 1937 at Rogers, but school officials deemed the field too muddy and canceled the game. Bentonville still wanted to play and claims a forfeit victory although the game was not played.

Prior to that, the two teams played consecutively from 1920 through 1935 because Rogers did not field a team in 1919. Bentonville did not have any two-year win streaks during that time.
Before that, the teams played sporadically.

Also with a win Friday, Lunney can take a 3-2 lead over Rogers as coach of the Tigers. The last Bentonville coach who finished with a winning record against Rogers as the Tigers’ coach was Dean Shackleford in 1947 and 1948. Shackleford’s Tigers beat Rogers, 13-6 and 7-6, in 1947 with Rogers winning 26-0 in 1948.

That Figures

5,191 — Career passing yards for Fayetteville junior quarterback Brandon Allen
4,130 — Career passing yards for Rogers Heritage junior quarterback Reed Brown
45 — Career passing touchdowns for Allen
43 — Career passing touchdowns for Brown
113 — Times in which Washington County rivals Fayetteville and Springdale High have played
110 — Times in which Benton County rivals Bentonville and Rogers High have played before Friday’s game
70 — Rogers wins against Bentonville with six ties

“We knew they were going to line up and run the ball right at us,” Heritage coach Perry Escalante said. “They’re big and strong, and that’s their strength. They just lined up and whipped us and made us like it. I’m not making excuses. When you get whipped, you just get whipped.”

Heritage (5-1, 2-1) at least scared the Tigers early on, striking on the first play of the game. War Eagles quarterback Reed Brown shocked the overflow crowd by nailing Grant Driver for an 80-yard touchdown pass off a Dakota Baggett deflection.

The War Eagles didn’t stop there, piling up 280 total yards before halftime, but Heritage couldn’t do anything to stop Bentonville’s power running game. Often lining up with two tight ends and either Haskell or Boedeker in the backfield, the Tigers rushed for 296 yards in the first half.

Bentonville (5-1, 2-1) punted on its first possession but went on to score 28 unanswered points in a 5-minute, 34-second span.

“I just think there was more of a focus this week,” Bentonville coach Barry Lunney said. “We’re more physical than they are, and we made our mind up that we wanted to run the ball, no matter how many people they put in the box.”

Haskell scored from 7 yards out with 6:40 left in the first quarter for Bentonville’s first touchdown, and Tigers linebacker Arthur Flowers intercepted Brown on Heritage’s first ensuing snap.

Boedeker’s 6-yard scoring run came two plays later, and Haskell bolted 55 yards untouched on the Tigers’ first play after a Heritage punt to put Bentonville up 21-6.

A fumble on the kickoff then set up Pearson Gean’s 5-yard scoring pass to Hayden Boydston on third down, which capped the first-quarter outburst. Haskell added touchdown runs of 56 and 3 yards as the Tigers claimed a 42-19 halftime lead.

After halftime, Bentonville similarly steamrolled the Heritage defense. Haskell, who tweaked his right ankle early in the half, capped an 13-play, 82-yard drive with an 11-yard run — his fifth and final score of the evening.

While Haskell couldn’t nail down the reason for Bentonville’s run game improvement, senior tackle Chase Petersen gladly explained the line’s struggles last week — and this week’s turnaround.

“We weren’t communicating well and accounting for who we had,” Petersen said. “There were a lot of communication issues, so we stressed that a lot this week. If you were at practice, you would’ve seen us there yelling out our calls.”

BENTONVILLE 56, ROGERS HERITAGE 27

Rogers Heritage    6    13    0    8    —    27
Bentonville    28    14    7    7    —    56
First Quarter
Her — Driver 80 pass from Brown (kick failed), 11:49
Bent — Haskell 7 run (Levin kick), 6:40
Bent — Boedeker 1 run (Levin kick), 6:20
Bent — Haskell 55 run (Levin kick), 2:40
Bent — Boydston 5 pass from Gean (Levin kick), 1:06
Second Quarter
Her — Stewart 5 pass from Brown (Severs kick), 9:06
Bent — Haskell 56 run (Levin kick), 7:42
Her — Stewart 12 pass from Brown (kick failed), 3:07
Bent — Haskell 3 run (Levin kick), :26
Third Quarter
Bent — Haskell 11 run (Levin kick), 4:58
Fourth Quarter
Bent — Boedeker 2 run (Levin kick), 11:57
Her — Stewart 23 run (Britton run), 6:25

Her    Bent
First Downs    16    26
Rushes-Yards    18-85    53-419
Passing Yards    282    87
Comp-Att-Int    19-32-1    6-6-0
Punts    2-27.0    1-38.0
Fumbles-Lost    1-1    1-0
Penalites-Yards    8-51    3-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Heritage, Stewart 15-83, Brown 1-9, Entwisle 1-3, Britton 1-(minus 10). Bentonville, Haskell 17-225, Boedeker 27-158, Murphy 7-19, Gean 2-17.
PASSING—Heritage, Brown 19-32-1-282 yards. Bentonville, Gean 4-4-0-68, Sanderlin 2-2-0-19.
RECEIVING—Heritage, Driver 5-126, Fruik 3-58, Entwisle 4-46, Snoderly 3-30, Stewart 4-22. Bentonville, Trudo 1-40, Gneiting 1-22, Griffith 1-13, Donell 1-6, Boydston 1-5, Boedeker 1-1.

The annual rivalry between Fayetteville and Springdale High was delayed a day, but it was well worth the wait.

The teams battled, literally, to the very end with the Purple Bulldogs pulling out a frenetic 50-49 win over the rival Red Bulldogs.

Junior quarterback Brandon Allen led Fayetteville, completing 32 of 56 passes for 464 yards and 4 touchdowns and added 49 yards on the ground with a 10-yard scoring run with 10 seconds left. He also completed the game-tying two-point conversion pass to Demetrius Dean.

“We wanted to go to Josh Hale,” Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton said. “(Springdale) walked their safety down, and there was a collision at the line of scrimmage. That forced Brandon to go from his first read. It wasn’t a great play call or anything from us. It was just a great play by Brandon and Demetrius. He worked to get open, and Brandon threw a jump-ball pass. With the big body Demetrius has, it’s hard to guard him.”

Dean came down the two-point pass in the back of the end zone to secure the win in the annual Battle of the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon

Allen’s day was a career high for passing yards personally, the second-best in school history behind only Zak Clark’s 492 yards against El Dorado in the playoffs in 1997. It is tied for fourth-best in the state’s largest classification with Springdale’s Ashton Glaser from last year.

Obviously, the Bulldogs counted on Allen tremendously on Saturday.

“Well, we really did,” Patton said. “We were in the Spread with four and five wide the entire game. We felt like it gave us the best chance to win. He really threw the ball well.”

This season, Allen has only thrown two interceptions, including none on Saturday.

Allen’s decision-making has also improved over his sophomore season. On Saturday, Allen ran 10 yards for the touchdown with 10 seconds left after not finding an open receiver.

Fayetteville still had a timeout left on the final play, which gave Allen the option of passing or running if need be.

“We told him if he needs to run it, then run it,” Patton said. “If he got tackled inbounds, we still had time to down it quickly. (Springdale) covered the receivers in the end zone. They pressured him, and he sprinted out. He took off, made a good cut and dived in for the touchdown.”

Allen leads the conference in passing with 1,556 yards and will likely pass the 5,000-yard mark for his career next week, though he’s possibly less than halfway through his junior season. He has thrown for 4,840 yards and 41 touchdowns now in 15 games.

Defenses Shine
Despite 1,106 yards, 14 offensive touchdowns and 55 first downs in the game between Fayetteville and Springdale, defense was played in the conference this weekend.

Fort Smith Southside, Springdale Har-Ber and Rogers Heritage allowed an average of just 181 yards of offense in their victories on Friday night. Those three teams also forced a combined 18 punts and eight turnovers.

Southside took advantage of three turnovers by Bentonville while keeping possession for 32 minutes, 4 seconds. That allowed the Rebels to hold a 66-46 advantage in the number of offensive plays.

“We had all of the field position,” Southside coach Jeff Williams said. “Even when we were backed up, we’d get some first downs and turn the field. We got some turnovers, we ran the ball well and made some plays on third down. The kids played hard.”

Springdale Har-Ber continues to lead the league in defense as it has from the beginning of the season.
The Wildcats are allowing just 145 yards per game and has allowed just seven touchdowns by the opponent’s offense in five games.

“Whoever has the best defense is going to win it,” Williams said. “You have to stop somebody sometime.”

Remember When …
Fort Smith Southside last defeated a No. 1 ranked team, according to the Associated Press’s statewide poll?

Southside downed No. 1 Bentonville on Friday night, 31-21, at newly-christened Jim Rowland Stadium.

“We’ll probably have to play some more number ones,” Williams said. “Everybody in this conference is ranked high. We don’t pay much attention to that. In this conference, it’s just survival. You try to get into the playoffs and get on a roll. Nobody hands out trophies in October.”

It’s the first time the Rebels have defeated the top-ranked team in the state since a 9-0 win against Springdale in 1992 in what was a battle between No. 1 and No. 2. Since that time, the top-ranked team in the state has been beaten 29 times during the regular season. Eleven of those defeats were by teams from the 7A-West Conference.

No recent season has been as volatile than that 1992 season.

Four times that season, the top-ranked team in the state, all from the West, was defeated. Southside twice was the top-ranked team and lost; in Week 4 to Russellville and Week 10 to Fort Smith Northside. Three weeks after defeating Southside, top-ranked Russellville lost to Springdale. The Bulldogs assumed the top spot and promptly lost to Southside. The Rebels took over the top spot, held it for a week and lost to rival Northside to close out the season.

In the end, Southside claimed the state title with a 21-6 win over Pine Bluff for the Rebels’ second-straight state title.

That Figures

Following are some final figures from Saturday’s game between Springdale High and Fayetteville:

1,106 — Yards of offense
145 — Offensive plays
55 — First downs
15 — Plays on Springdale’s opening drive
14 — Offensive touchdowns
11 — Plays on Fayetteville’s final game-winning drive
7 — Scoring drives by each team in nine possessions
6 — Ties in the game
1 — Failed fourth-down attempt by each team
1 — Punt by each team
0 — Turnovers

“This is kind of a reverse deal of the state championship game,” Southside coach Jeff Williams said. “We got all the breaks this time.”

The Rebels beat the Tigers with their power running game. Bentonville had a hard time tackling the bullish Hollis, who finished with 93 yards on 20 carries.

When Hollis wasn’t running over Bentonville, speedy David Adair was running around them. The Rebels’ back had his third straight 100-yard effort with 108 yards on 24 carries.

Southside quarterback Hunter Whorton, who was an efficient 7-of-12 for 55 yards, provided one of the biggest first-half plays when his play-fake on second-and-7 at the Tigers’ 10 momentarily froze the linebackers, allowing Hollis to bust through for a 10-yard touchdown run.

Later in the second quarter, after Southside had flipped the field with a 40-yard Leo Gallo punt, Aaron Grant returned Gean’s interception 26 yards for a touchdown and a 14-6 lead.

The Rebels made it 17-6 later in half when Gallo booted a 32-yard field goal after the second of the Tigers’ three turnovers.

The biggest swing, however, took place early in the fourth quarter. After Bentonville’s Courtney Haskell slithered through from 3 yards out, cutting Southside’s lead to three, the Tigers’ Nick Gneiting inexplicably attempted to pick up Gallo’s short 16-yard punt.

After Gneiting lost the handle, Trevor Scott pounced on it at the 24. Five plays later, Hollis bulled his way in from the 3 to make it 24-14.

A humbled Bentonville coach Barry Lunney, whose Tigers rolled into town averaging 47.7 points per game, said something was missing.

“It wasn’t there (Friday) and I’m sorry,” Lunney said. “I apologize because I didn’t get the job done.”

— By Kevin Taylor/TIMES RECORD

FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 31, BENTONVILLE 21

Bentonville    6    0    8    7    —    21
Southside    0    17    0    14    —    31
First Quarter
Bent — Gean 83 run (kick failed), 11:07
Second Quarter
South — Hollis 10 run (Gallo kick),
South — Grant 26 interception return (Gallo kick), 2:07
South — FG Gallo 33, :27
Third Quarter
Bent — Haskell 3 run (Edwards pass from Gean), 10:49
Fourth Quarter
South — Hollis 3 run (Gallo kick), 9:36
South — Hollis 2 run (Gallo kick), 2:19
Bent — Vanderpool 29 pass from Gean (Levin kick), 0:07

Bent    South
First Downs    12    16
Rushes-Yards    25-173    55-203
Passing Yards    119    55
Comp-Att-Int    9-21-1    7-12-0
Punts    6-33.3    5-35.2
Fumbles-Lost    4-2    3-1
Penalties-Yards    2-13    3-30

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Bentonville, Gean 8-113, Haskell 13-57, Edwards 1-5, Boedeker 2-4, Sanderlin 1-(minus 6). Southside, Adair 24-108, Hollis 20-93, Whorton 6-21, Nolan 2-4, TEAM 2-(minus 23)
PASSING—Bentonville, Gean 9-20-1-114, Sanderlin 1-1-0-(minus 5). Southside, Whorton 7-12-0-55.
Receivers — Bentonville, Vanderpool 2-50, Gneiting 2-31, Edwards 2-4, Haskell 1-27, Cole 1-5, Boydston 1-2. Southside, Falleur 4-49, McGee 1-10, Hollis 1-3, Anderson 1-(minus 7).
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.

By NOAH TRISTER
AP Sports Writer
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — This was one game in which winning definitely wasn’t the only thing.
Shiloh Christian cruised past Berryville 37-0 Friday night, but this rout was a lot tamer than last year’s 65-0 affair that helped open the door to more complaints that private schools have unfair advantages.
“I thought they showed nothing but class Friday night — very hospitable,” Berryville coach Bobby Bishop said. “I was just real pleased with the way everything went over there.”
During the offseason, Berryville proposed a plan that could have created separate state playoffs for private schools. That effort failed, but the Arkansas Activities Association did vote overwhelmingly to limit transfer eligibility at private schools.
With last year’s blowout and the summer debate still fresh in everyone’s mind, Shiloh Christian hosted the Bobcats last week. The Saints won by a score that was lopsided but didn’t stand out.
“I wasn’t really that worried about the kids on either team,” Shiloh Christian coach Josh Floyd said. “We obviously didn’t make it a big deal to our team.”
The Saints’ starters didn’t play much, although Floyd said that was the case in 2008 too.
“Last year we had more depth, so when our second team came in they scored a little bit more,” he said.
Bishop said it was hard not to think about the recent controversy in the days leading up to the game.
“There was so much talk in the offseason, I’m sure that our kids were aware of all that was going on. We did talk about it the week prior to the game,” he said. “We tried to encourage our kids to play the best they could. They knew that they were really overmatched. Our kids went out there and they did the best they could against a very good football team. Like I say, we were treated extremely well over there.”
That being said, Bishop still believes there should be changes to the state’s high school sports structure.
“I feel like Shiloh Christian probably improved in relations with other schools and probably improved their image, but as far as the public vs. private issue, that wasn’t a Berryville-Shiloh thing,” he said. “I don’t think anything’s been settled there. Honestly, I don’t believe you’re going to have a level playing field until private schools are totally separate and playing in their own classification, but that’s not my call.”

New Look?
Little Rock Central played on its new artificial turf field for the first time, but lost 28-24 to Van Buren. The Tigers went an uncharacteristic 0-10 last year and are 0-4 in 2009. There might be nowhere to go but up for the state’s most storied program.

Poll Watching
Bryant jumped from No. 7 to No. 4, its highest ranking since October of 2007. The Hornets beat Little Rock Catholic last week and swapped places in the ranking with the Rockets.
Monticello remains No. 1 in 5A and is now No. 10 overall. Magnolia moved into the top five in 5A. The Panthers are No. 3 after beating Pulaski Academy.
Heber Springs is No. 5 in 4A after a 4-0 start.

Looking Ahead
Bentonville will try to protect its No. 1 ranking for another week at No. 9 Fort Smith Southside. That’s a rematch of last year’s state title game, which Bentonville won 32-20.
Junction City and Bearden are ranked 1-2 in 2A, and since they’re in the same conference, that means they meet during the regular season. The game is this week at Junction City.
The Dragons not only have home-field advantage, but they beat Bearden 43-0 last year.

Picks for selected games this week:
FS Southside 17, Bentonville 13
Junction City 16, Bearden 13
LR Catholic 26, Cabot 20
———
Last Week: 4-0
Season: 14-6

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