If the two Bentonville doubles teams win today, it would set up a rematch of the 7A-West Conference doubles finals that was won by Zach Ellis and Tabler.

Brandon Ellis and Shah will face Little Rock Central’s Bobby Emerson and Austin Crawford in the semifinals at 10 a.m. today.

“Brandon and Varun have to play the team from Central and I watched them and they are good,” Pautsch said. “Our guys can beat them if they do some things right.”

Zach Ellis and Tabler will face Van Buren’s Bagwell-Dunn in the other boys’ semifinals.

“We have seen them this year and had good success,” Pautsch said. “But they (Van Buren) have improved and I am impressed with them. They are in a position and now it is up to them.”

Rogers High’s Trent Lamers and Adam Hile advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-1 victory before losing to Ellis-Shah in the quarterfinals. Mounties coach Steve Peck said the quarterfinals finish was one of the best in recent years.

“We played well and we actually played better in this match (quarterfinals loss),” Peck said. “We did well in the first match and this is the first time I have had a doubles team make it past the first round at state. It felt good.”

The Lady Mounties doubles team of Caroline Kelley and Anusha Manjagi also won a first-round match before falling 6-0, 6-2 in the quarterfinals to the Little Rock Central duo of Lindsey Liles and Trinity Randolph.

“In the first match, we limited unforced errors, covered the nets well and played good team tennis,” said Lady Mounties coach Ronnie Cowan. “We were just overpowered in the second match.”

Rogers Heritage freshman Pratheepa Ravikumar won her first round match against Conway’s Mary Leath 6-0, 6-2 before losing in the quarterfinals.

CLASS 7A STATE TENNIS TOURNAMENT

WHEN: 10 a.m. today

Semifinals

Hodous, Fayetteville vs. Fox, Little Rock Catholic 10 a.m.

Martinez, Little Rock Central vs. Blake, FS Southside 10 a.m.

Finals, 1 p.m.

Semifinals

Emerson-Crawford, LR Central vs. B. Ellis-Shah, Bentonville 10 a.m.

Z. Ellis-Tabler, Bentonville vs. Bagwell-Dunn, Van Buren 10 a.m.

Finals, 1 p.m.

Semifinals

Hillyer, Bentonville vs. Gray, Russellville 10 a.m.

Ryan, Bentonville vs. Bailey, Mt. St. Mary’s 10 a.m.

Finals, 1 p.m.

Semifinals

Anderson-Kraus, Bentonville vs. Word-Word, Van Buren 10 a.m.

Liles-Randolph, Little Rock Central vs. Skinner-Kincannon, Southside 10 a.m.

Finals, 1 p.m.

Boys

1. Bentonville 6

2. Fayetteville 5

2. Little Rock Central 5

4. Fort Smith Southside 3

5. Little Rock Catholic 2

6. Van Buren 2

7. Rogers High 1

Girls

1. Bentonville 6

2. Mount St. Mary’s 4

2. FS Southside 4

4. Russellville 2

4. Van Buren 2

6. Rogers High 1

7. Rogers Heritage 1

Nolan drove the Rebels’ to the Purple Dogs’ 37 before being intercepted on the final play of the game. The Rebels turned the ball over five times.

“Brandon Allen had fever and was throwing up, and we were feeding him chicken noodle soup at halftime,” Patton said. “That’s the way legends are made.”

Allen completed 30 of 49 passes.

Nolan, who had three touchdown passes of his own, gave the Rebels a 26-21 lead in the fourth by hitting Quai Anderson with a 55-yard touchdown pass.

After Allen’s 8-yard TD pass to Michael Heintzman put the PurpleDogs ahead 27-26, Southside was down for the count when the Nolan-to-McGee pass was wiped out.

“I knew it was close,” Patton said. “When they (officials) went back and looked at it, that was huge.”

“That was real disappointing,” Southside coach Jeff Williams said. “That was the play of the game. We didn’t get the break, and I don’t know why.”

Fayetteville converted three straight third-and-longs on its first series, moving from its 19 to the Rebels’ 17.

But Drew Patton missed a 34-yard field goal attempt, hooking the ball wide left.

After a three-and-out, Fayetteville drove 56 yards for its first touchdown. Again, Allen made things look easy as the PurpleDogs took a 6-0 lead on Allen’s 1-yard run with 49 seconds left in the first quarter.

The PurpleDogs, who outgained Southside, 119 yards to a negative two in the first quarter, saw their lead disappear on the Rebels second possession.

Facing third-and-seven, Nolan hit Anderson with a 54-yard reception to the PurpleDogs’ 13. Three plays later, Lee Hollis bulled in from the 2 to give the Rebels a 7-6 lead.

Fayetteville responded on its next series when Allen hit Josh Hale with a 30-yard strike down the center of the field. Southside blocked the PAT and trailed 12-7 with 8:20 left in the first half.

— KEVIN TAYLOR/TR

FAYETTEVILLE 34, FS SOUTHSIDE 26

Fayettevile    6    6    9    13    —    34
Southside    0    14    6    6    —    26
First Quarter
Fay — Allen 1 run (kick failed), :49
Second Quarter
South — Hollis 2 run (Gallo kick), 10:50
Fay — J. Hale 30 pass from Allen (kick blocked), 8:20
South — Anderson 47 pass from Au. Nolan (Gallo kick), 3:18
Third Quarter
Fay — FG Rosteck 33, 4:34
South — Falleur 22 pass from Au. Nolan (Gallo kick), 2:09
Fay — Heintzman 19 pass from Allen (pass failed), :04
Fourth Quarter
South — Anderson 55 pass from Au. Nolan (pass failed), 9:16
Fay — Heintzman 8 pass from Allen (pass failed), 4:14
Fay — Hale 15 run (Rosteck kick), 1:17

Fay    South
First Downs    25    14
Rushes-Yards    26-78    24-47
Passing Yards    345    306
Comp-Att-Int    30-49-0    11-36-1
Fumbles-Lost    1-1    4-4
Punts    6-33.3    5-35.2
Penalties-Yards    9-105    8-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Fayetteville, Hale 12-41, Allen 10-28, Heintzman 3-15, Gorton 1-(minus 6). Southside, Au. Nolan 7-27, Hollis 6-15, Adair 10-5
Passes—Fayetteville, Allen 30-49-0-345. Southside, Au. Nolan 11-36-1-306.
Receivers—Fayetteville, J. Hale 7-129, Heintzman 7-81, D. Hale 6-52, Dean 5-52, Underwood 3-17, Smith 1-9, Holmes 1-5. Southside, Anderson 4-165, A. Nolan 2-64, Falleur 2-30, Hood 1-32, Jones 1-16, Hollis 1-(minus 1).

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

“(Rogers) had the momentum in the second half but we came back and got going,” said Southside coach Jeff Williams. “Then we hit the big bomb to Falleur. We just made plays to win it.”

Couture completed 20 of 35 passes for 223 yards and one touchdown but the senior left the game with a concussion early in the fourth period. He is doubtful for next week’s game. Rogers also lost linebacker D.J. Smart in the fourth quarter after the senior was ejected following a personal foul.

Smart will have to sit out next week’s game against Rogers Heritage. Receiver Ethan Melton was also knocked from the game with a shoulder injury and could be lost for the year.

“We went out there (in the second half) and struggled,” said Rogers coach Ronnie Peacock. “At times we did good, did some really good things. But like I told them (team), it just wasn’t enough.”

Southside benefited from a short field and jumped to a 14-0 first-quarter lead with scoring drives of 34 and 44 yards.

The Rebels seemed poised to turn the game into a blowout after they recovered a Rogers fumble at the Mounties 27 while leading 14-0.

Southside marched to the Rogers 1 but was stopped on downs just short of the end zone. Rogers then marched 99 yards and cut the lead to one touchdown when Couture hit Graham Parker for an 8-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter.

Southside countered with a quick 80-yard drive and upped the lead to 21-7 when Adair raced 35 yards for a touchdown.

But Mounties used another long scoring drive right before halftime to cut the Rebels lead to 21-14. Rogers took over at its own 28 with just over a minute left and needed just 39 seconds to go 72 yards.

Couture completed the drive with an 18-yard scoring strike to Graham. Rogers’ scoring march was aided by a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty, which was the Rebels eighth penalty of the first half.

“We had a chance to jump on them early,” Williams said. “I thought a big play was getting to the one and not getting it.”

Southside then stole the momentum in the second half as the Mounties couldn’t slow the Rebels balanced attack.

FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 38, ROGERS HIGH 21

Southside    14    7    3    14    —    38
Rogers    0    14    7    0    —    21
First Quarter
South — Falleur 11 pass from Whorton (Gallo kick), 4:15
South — Whorton 1 run (Gallo kick), :52
Second Quarter
Rog — Parker 2 pass from Couture (Dunlop kick), 6:47
South — Adair 35 run (Gallo kick), 5:19
Rog — Melton 18 pass from Couture (Dunlop kick), :27
Third Quarter
Rog — Couture 31 run (Dunlop kick), 10:42
South — FG Gallo 22, :15
Fourth Quarter
South — Falleur 52 pass from Whorton (Gallo kick), 9:27
South — Hollis 2 run (Gallo kick), 5:49

South    Rog
First Downs    19    19
Rushes-yards    50-283    19-31
Passing yards    152    239
Comp-Att-Int    10-15-1    21-40-1
Punts    5-36    7-36
Fumbles-lost    2-0    2-1
Pentalies-yards    10-100    3-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Southside, Adair 28-195, Hollis 13-63, Nolan 3-21, Whorton 3-11, Jones 3-(minus 7). Rogers, Couture 14-43, Carpenter 1-4, Parker 4-(minus 16).
PASSING—Southside, Whorton 10-15-0-152. Rogers, Couture 20-35-1-223, Parker 1-6-0-16.
RECEIVING—Southside, Mears 5-36, Falleur 4-89, Nolan 1-27. Rogers, Parker 9-95, Gartman 5-61, Caton 3-44, Melton 3-17, Oller 1-22.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.

Southside (6-2, 3-2 7A-West) had match point twice in the fifth game but couldn’t close it out against the Lady Tigers (8-5, 5-0).

Rebecca Brown and Shayne Wiedemann had 15 kills each for Bentonville.

PREP GOLF

Har-Ber Sweeps Rogers Heritage

Taylor Kline shot a 42 to earn medalist honors to lead Springdale Har-Ber to an easy 144-203 victory over Rogers Heritage on Thursday at Prairie Creek Country Club.

Lauren Zulpo and Kaitlyn Vogel each shot 51 in support of Kline.

On the boys’ side, Har-Ber’s Zach Coats fired an even-par 36 to take medalist, but the Wildcats lost by a stroke 170-171 to Heritage. Antonio Guererro shot a 42, followed by a 45 by Candler Boortz and a 48 from Will McDoniel for Heritage in the play five, count four format. Jared Gilstrap led Heritage with a 39.

JUNIOR HIGH FOOTBALL

Fayetteville Ramay 14, Springdale Southwest 6

Ramay held Southwest on downs at its own 4, then drove 96 yards for a score late in the first half en route to the victory Thursday.

Casey Paraday threw to Dalton Clinkscales for the only score of the night for Southwest (1-2 overall, 0-2 in Northwest Arkansas Conference).

In the eighth-grade game, Braxton Jester threw two touchdown passes and ran for another to lead Southwest to a 28-6 win.

Gus Vitt added a 25-yard touchdown run and Josh Poulos recovered a fumble, which led to Jester’s short touchdown run. Bryan Lemus also made three extra points for Southwest (3-0).

Jester threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Colton Weztler and added a 40-yard scoring strike to Jordan Dennis.

Springdale Central 48, Harrison 14

Miguel Salgado ran for three touchdowns to help Central improve to 3-0 with the easy nonconference win on Thursday night.

Salgado had touchdown runs of 26, 32 and 82 yards. Blake Taylor, Tucker Lee and Aaron Wellman also had touchdown runs. Pierce Phillips also threw a 15-yard TD pass to Alex Rice. Jesus Sidon also hit 6-of-7 PATs.

Central won the eighth-grade game 32-6.

Rogers Kirksey 14, Rogers Oakdale 0

Kirksey improved to 3-0 with the shutout win in eighth-grade football on Thursday.

Alex Lewis scored on a 2-yard run and Max Harrell added the second touchdown on a 4-yard quarterback keeper. Ty Galyean had a 55-yard kickoff return to set up one of those scores.