Fayetteville topples Bentonville to put stranglehold on 7A-West

The Bulldogs cruised to a 42-21 win

Senior quarterback Drake Lindsey threw for five touchdowns Friday night, as Fayetteville took a huge step toward the 7A-West title with a 42-21 win over rival Bentonville.

Fayetteville struck first with its defense, as junior linebacker Rhett Tidwell scooped up a Bentonville fumble and rambled 47 yards to paydirt, and a 7-0 Bulldog lead. 

The Tigers bounced right back on the ensuing drive, targeting prime receiver CJ Brown. The Arkansas Razorback commit completed the drive with a 5-yard TD grab in the back corner of the end zone with 3:41 to play in the opening quarter.

Quarterback Carter Nye then connected with Brown again on the next drive, taking it to the Fayetteville 1-yard line on the final play of the first quarter. Nye then opened the second period with a sneak up the middle for a 14-7 Bentonville lead.

Fayetteville got it back even just a minute later. Jaison DeLamar caught a pass to the Bentonville 22. Three plays later, Lindsey hit sophomore Kaleb Johnson on a swing pass for a 10-yard TD strike with 9:33 to play in the half, knotting the score at 14-14.

After a Lindsey run converted a 4th-and-3 on the next Bulldog drive, senior Christian Setzer scored from 9 yards out to give Fayetteville a 21-14 lead with 3:01.

Bentonville looked to score right before the intermission, driving deep into Bulldog territory. Until junior Mathis Brady picked off a Nye pass at the Fayetteville 3.

It became a defensive struggle throughout the majority of the third quarter. Lindsey finally hit DeLamar for 38 yards to the Bentonville 28. Two plays later, the duo hooked up again for a 26-yard scoring strike with 30 seconds left in the quarter, giving the Bulldogs a 28-14 advantage.

Nye also had to be helped off the field after suffering an injury to his right ankle and did not return.

The Bentonville offense sputtered without Nye, as Fayetteville got the ball back and added to the lead with a 37-yard touchdown pass was Mason Spencer, mauling it 35-14.

Lindsey then capped the Bulldogs scoring with a 10-yard pass to Charlie Graves with just over three minutes remaining.

Backup quarterback Cole Slepecki did get the Tigers back on the board late with a 10-yard pass to Christian Battles.

3 Takeaways

1.

Fayetteville senior quarterback Drake Lindsey continued his spectacular season on Friday night with 272 yards and five more touchdowns. Lindsey has now thrown at least five touchdown passes in all four 7A-West Conference games. In those games he has totaled 22 touchdown passes without throwing an interception.

With Bentonville neglecting to load the box against the Bulldogs, Fayetteville utilized it’s run game a little more than usual. But that seemed to open things up for some key passing plays down field as the game progressed. Lindsey even threw a pair of TD passes in the second quarter top running backs Christian Setzer and Kaleb Johnson. That opened up a deep 38-yard throw to Jaison DeLamar in the third quarter to help put the Bulldogs up by two scores and virtually seize the game.

“They weren’t loading the box, so when they do that, you’ve got to run the ball,” Lindsey said. “You just have to trust your O-lineman and your running backs and they did a great job. We were able to gash them all night.”

2

This was only the second time in the last 18 season – along with a 42-34 win in 2021 – that Fayetteville has beaten Bentonville in the regular season. Not only does Friday night’s victory put the Bulldogs in the driver’s seat for the 7A-West crown, but it also adds the satisfaction of a rare accomplishment.

“This win was massive -- We came out and played really well, and it was just a beautiful win,” said ecstatic defensive back Eli Rose. “I know their quarterback got hurt there in the second half, but we got some great stops before that and were able to score the ball. We played great.”

Fayetteville’s leading receiver Jaison DeLamar had another strong night with a pair of touchdown receptions, but admitted that beating the Tigers just added to the satisfaction. “It was a huge win for us, because we knew, coming into this year, that Bentonville was going to be one of our bigger games,” DeLamar said. “So, coming into this game, we were ready, came out and did what we did and finished strong. I know my abilities and my speed, and I’ve been watching film all week, so I knew how their corners were going to play.”

3.

After losing three regular-season games in 2022 by a total of five points – including a 31-30 overtime loss to Bentonville – Fayetteville’s returning players have bottled that up for great motivation this season. Those losses forced the Bulldogs to open last season’s playoffs against Conway, who won the game 37-0.

“There is a little motivation there,” Bulldog Head Coach Casey Dick said with a smile. “I think any time you are competitive in sports, and that happens to you, you always want the next one. This is an experienced group that’s been through a lot, so there was a lot of internal drive in there for a bunch of these guys. And there were probably 25 guys here tonight, who graduated the last few years, that came back tonight to support this team. We’re trying to do it right and put the kids first.

After last season loss to the Tigers, Lindsey and his teammates had this season’s showdown with their rivals circled on his calendar. “We lost to them last year, and we really wanted this one bad, he said. “It feels great, but we’ve got three games left and will try to go win them all. We want to finish the regular season undefeated, but we won’t be done yet. Because we’ve got the playoffs and winning the state championship is our big goal.”

-- Steve Andrews