Bentonville's scoring balance overwhelms Rogers Heritage

There was no need for any one player to do all of Bentonville High's scoring. Seven different players scored touchdowns Friday night as the Tigers continued their winning ways in the 7A-West Conference with a 56-7 rout of winless Rogers Heritage at Tiger Stadium. Bentonville (6-0, 3-0) needed just 3 1/2 minutes to build a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, which was about the same amount of time that Heritage (0-6, 0-3) used its opening drive before stalling on the Tigers 39 when a fourth-and-3 pass attempt went incomplete. "It's fun for the kids to get an opportunity to do that," Bentonville coach Jody Grant said. "You know, we got a lot of people in this game. Everybody got a chance to play and play a lot. "We went with our twos and threes for the entire second half, and it's a good chance for those guys to go up against some 7A-West football. Chalk this one up as a good night for the Tigers." Bentonville needed just two plays and 45 seconds to get on the scoreboard once the defense made its fourth-down stand. Trenton Kolb, a receiver who only had two carries for 11 yards entering Friday's game, took the ball around right end on a jet sweep and raced 61 yards for the score with 7 minutes, 38 seconds left in the first quarter. The Tigers quickly made it a 21-0 game as Ben Pankau hit Kenny Iuso with a 45-yard touchdown pass, then Colby Ried scored from 5 yards out three plays after Levi Bennett recovered a fumble at the Heritage 20. "It's cool because I'm usually the person catching the ball," said Kolb, who finished with 85 yards on just three carries and matched the number of receiving touchdown he has this season. "This time, I get the handoff and become Preston Crawford for a little bit. "Technically, I didn't expect to score. I was expecting to get a first down, maybe 15 yards, then I broke it and got a touchdown. It was a win-win for me." Bentonville then marched on to a 49-0 halftime lead and forced the running clock for the entire season half. Crawford was the only Tiger to score multiple touchdowns with runs of 1 and 15 yards before Andrew Edwards hit Jackson Kinsey with a 12-yard touchdown pass, then Pankau added a 5-yard toss to Chas Nimrod with 41 seconds before halftime. Sean Anderson, the Tigers' third running back, scored on a 5-yard run midway through the third quarter. Heritage, whose losing skid reached 20 games overall and 14 games in league play, avoided a shutout when Jeb Brown hit Eli Craig with a 15-yard touchdown pass with 6:50 remaining. Four Downs: • Kolb would have been the Tigers' leading rusher had Anderson not broke away for an 18-yard run on his last attempt. Anderson finished with 86 yards on seven carries. • Bentonville's defense held Heritage to 163 yards total offense (60 passing, 103 rushing). J.J. Webb had 84 of the War Eagles' rushing yardage, which included a 48-yard run in the second quarter. • Bentonville honored its boys and girls golf teams at halftime. Bentonville's girls won their third consecutive state title last week in Fayetteville, while the boys won their first golf state title in school history Wednesday. • Both teams return to 7A-West action next week as Heritage hosts Van Buren while Bentonville travels to Fayetteville.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Bentonville High School Athletics

BENTONVILLE'S SCORING BALANCE OVERWHELMS ROGERS HERITAGE

HENRY APPLE

arkansasonline.com | 10/12/2019