BENTONVILLE — There was nothing wrong with Bentonville’s start Friday night, and the same can be said about the Tigers’ finish.

It was the middle part of its game against Tallahassee (Fla.) Rickards where Bentonville had a few problems.

After scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions, the Tigers (3-0) had three drives go inside the Rickards 20, but they had to settle for a pair of Hayden Moerhing field goals as they built a 20-0 halftime lead. They also lost the ball when tailback Jacob Clark had the ball stripped by a Raiders defender — one of three turnovers Bentonville suffered after having one in the first two games.

“We can’t win big games doing that,” Bentonville coach Jody Grant said. “We’ve been fortunate not to have turnovers, and we’ve got to work through that. When you’re in the red zone, that has to be seven, not three.

“We’ve talked to our kids about that. We’ve got to fix that, and we will.”

Play of the game: After Rickards failed on a fourth-down pass at the Bentonville 18, Tigers quarterback Kasey Ford avoided a rush and flipped a screen pass to Clark, who broke tackles and bolted 73 yards to the Raiders 9. It turned momentum back in the favor of Bentonville, which went on to score 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
Players of the game: Chase Hunter and Clay Barganier executed Bentonville’s trickery to perfection, and the result was a 61-yard touchdown pass on the Tigers’ first offensive play.

Notable: Ford surpassed the 4,000-yard career passing mark with his 284-yard outing on 16 of 27 passing. He now has 4,148 career passing yards. … Moerhing was roughed up for the second time this season while trying a long field goal, which resulted in the junior hitting a shorter kick. … Bentonville extended its winning streak to 12 games. … Hunter tried to throw another pass to Billy Horton on a fake punt attempt, but Rickards figured out the play and knocked the pass away.

Up next: It’s the start of 7A-West Conference play, and Fort Smith Southside provides the opposition at Tiger Stadium. It could be the final time Southside will come to Bentonville with the Rebels mascot and is probably the last time Southside will be a conference foe.
