PREP FOOTBALL REPORT: Line Play Sets Tone

FAYETTEVILLE VICTORY MADE POSSIBLE BY PLAY IN TRENCHES

Fayetteville’s Brooks Ellis (13) sacks Bentonville quarterback Dallas Hardison in the fourth quarter. Ellis finished with 3 1/2 sacks.
Fayetteville’s Brooks Ellis (13) sacks Bentonville quarterback Dallas Hardison in the fourth quarter. Ellis finished with 3 1/2 sacks.

— Ten weeks ago, a 29-28 overtime win against Bentonville in the Class 7A championship game might have seemed impossible for Fayetteville.

After all, the Bulldogs had lost to the Tigers 41-6 at Harmon Field in Week 4 of the regular season, getting outclassed in nearly every phase of the game.

But Saturday the rematch was a different story, and the stunning Fayetteville victory was made possible in big part because of the play in the trenches. With the Purple’Dogs able to more than hold their own on both the offensive and defensive line, Bentonville saw a much different Fayetteville team the second time around.

“We went to an odd-front defense and we gave them something that we’ve not shown all year,” Bulldogs coach Daryl Patton said. “We got some pass rush and we were able to get to their quarterback Dallas (Hardison) a little bit.

“And our kids on the offense line, that’s been a season long worth of work. Trust me, our offensive line coach, coach (Mark) White lost a lot of hair working with these guys, but they kept getting better and better. And I’m proud of them, They’ve been playing real well the last three of four weeks.”

THAT FIGURES

2: State championships for Fayetteville in the last five years

7: Sacks by Fayetteville defense Saturday

27: Total wins for current Bulldogs senior class, matching school record

4,150: Passing yards for Austin Allen in 2011, a Class 7A record

Play of the Day: Fayetteville calls it the ‘Bozo’ play and it was the two-point conversion call in overtime to win the state championship.

“By no means is this disrespectful, because we have all the respect in the world for Bentonville, but that was Bentonville’s play,” Patton said. “They scored on us earlier in the game with that play. We got it from them about two years ago and we’ve practiced it all year.

“We had not run it all year. Our tight end falls down and we call it the ‘bozo’ play. He gets up and sprints to the left corner of the end zone. When I saw the cornerback move in with the motion on the play, I turned around and said, ballgame. If the cornerback had stayed wide we would have had a hard time being open or they might have intercepted it.”

Injury Update: Fayetteville played the state finals without senior wide receiver Nathan Varady, who served as a team captain. Varady had battled problems with a shoulder injury earlier in the season, missing the first three games before being forced to sit out Saturday’s game.

Player of the Game: On offense, Fayetteville’s co-most valuable players were Austin Allen and Tyler Tuck. Allen passed for 376 yards and four touchdowns and rallied the Bulldogs both in the fourth quarter and in overtime. But Tuck was also important, making two touchdown catches in the fourth quarter, then adding on the game-winning two-point conversion catch in OT. Defensively, linebacker Brooks Ellis was a beast for the Bulldogs, with eight tackles, four tackles for a loss and three and half sacks.

Notable: Fayetteville’s senior class finished their three-year career with 27 wins, matching the all-time high for a set of seniors at the school. Only one of class, the seniors of 2007, won as many games. ... The Bulldogs have now won two of the past five Class 7A state championships and Fayetteville and Bentonville combined have won four of the last five. ... Austin Allen finished off the most prolific single season for a quarterback in the state’s highest classification on Saturday. According to Arkansas High School Activities Association record book, Allen became the single season Class 7A record holder with 4,150 passing yards in 2011. His total ranks 13th in the state for a single season all-time.

The Lingo: “We talked to the kids all week about win each play. Don’t think about the big picture. Win each play and compete, compete. If you do that, before long you’re going to be in the ballgame and we wanted to be in the game in the fourth quarter.”

— DARYL PATTON, Fayetteville coach

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