Bentonville Continues Mastery Over Rival Bentonville West With 24-21 Win: Arkansas High School Football

In the final week of the Arkansas high school football regular season, one of the newer rivalries got a renewal.

Bentonville West, located in the nearby town of Centerton, traveled approximately eight miles eastward to Bentonville High School to take on the Tigers. But as has been the case in this newer rivalry, Bentonville once again got the upper hand by prevailing, 24-21, Friday night at Tiger Stadium.

It’s a rivalry that has been around for exactly 10 years, when Bentonville West was established as a school. But it has definitely been a lopsided rivalry, as the Tigers have won all 12 contests against the Wolverines.

However, the bad news for Bentonville was the Tigers didn't get the No. 1 playoff seed from the 7A-West. That went to Shiloh Christian, which in its first season in Class 7A got the top seed after defeating Springdale, 43-3.

The Saints also got the top seed due to their head-to-head win against Bentonville earlier this season. Bentonville (9-1, 6-1) will receive the No. 2 seed and get an opening-round bye in the 7A playoffs.

Bentonville West, which also lost by three points last week to Shiloh Christian, dropped to 7-3 overall and 4-3 in the league.

Friday's matchup also involved two of the Top 15 ranked teams in the latest High School On SI Arkansas Top 25. Bentonville comes in ranked No. 4, while West enters at No. 15.

Follow High School On SI correspondent Buck Ringgold (@Bucks_Ballpark) for all of the live updates and scoring from Bentonville.

Scroll down for live score and game updates from kickoff to the postgame. Refresh this page for the latest.

BENTONVILLE 24, BENTONVILLE WEST 21 FINAL

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POSTGAME

- Bentonville continues its unbeaten streak against Bentonville West as the Tigers hang on late for the win and go to 9-1 overall.

FOURTH QUARTER

- West tries a 46-yard field goal on fourth down. Low snap, but the kick is off; however, the kick sails wide to the left and Bentonville holds with 58 seconds left. The Wolverines are out of time outs.

- West faces another fourth-and-long from the Bentonvile 29 with 1:02 left.

- A fourth-down catch is complete, and West has a first down at the Bentonville 28.

- West faces a fourth down at midfield with 1:27 left.

- West is just past its own 30 as we have two minutes to go.

- Bentonville West gets a stop, forcing Bentonville to punt. Wolverines take over at their own 5-yard line with 2:52 left.

- Bentonville converts on a third-and-short just past midfield. Tigers have the ball with five minutes left.

- TOUCHDOWN BENTONVILLE WEST. Wolverines make it a one-score game, as VJ Warren goes in from 5 yards out. (Bentonville, 24-21 | 10:40, 4th)

THIRD QUARTER

- West faces a fourth down near midfield and decide to go for it. They get it, thanks to a trick play, a double pass which is caught inside the Bentonville 20 in the final seconds of the third.

- Bentonville goes for it on fourth-and-short inside the 10 but can't convert, and West will take over with less than four minutes left in the period.

- Bentonville converts on a fourth down and the Tigers are now inside the West 20.

- Bentonville defense forces a punt to start the second half and the Tigers have the ball and a 10-point advantage.

- Bentonville West fields the second-half kickoff and the third period is under way.

SECOND QUARTER

- FIELD GOAL BENTONVILLE. West fumbled on the ensuing kickoff and the Tigers recovered. It leads to a 28-yard field goal attempt, upping the Tigers' lead to 10. (Bentonville, 24-14 | :13, 2nd)

- TOUCHDOWN BENTONVILLE. Back come the Tigers, as tailback Stephen Schafer takes a handoff and goes up the middle, breaking a tackle near the 5 and finishes off a 26-yard TD run. (Bentonville, 21-14 | 1:33, 2nd)

- TOUCHDOWN BENTONVILLE WEST. Wolverines respond once again with another solid drive, capped by a 3-yard pass from Sutton Mackey to running back VJ Warren out of the backfield. PAT evens things up once again. (14-14 | 3:21, 2nd)

- TOUCHDOWN BENTONVILLE. Tigers regain the lead as Nathan Clouston goes in from a yard out. (Bentonville, 14-7 | 7:01, 1st)

- Bentonville inside the West 40 early in the second period.

FIRST QUARTER

- TOUCHDOWN BENTONVILLE WEST. Wolverines answer after the opening kickoff return by Bentonville. Third-and-goal from the 1, a play-action pass to the end zone for the score, followed by the game-tying PAT. (7-7 | 5:35, 1st)

- A Bentonville interception was waved off due to a pass interference penalty. West is now inside the Tigers' 20.

- TOUCHDOWN BENTONVILLE. And just like that, the Tigers return the opening kickoff for a touchdown, as Evan Moll does the honors, going 97 yards to the house. PAT is good. (Bentonville, 7-0 | 11:46, 1st)

- Bentonville receives the opening kickoff to begin the game.

PREGAME

- Live from Tiger Stadium in Bentonville, it’s a crosstown rivalry and a showdown that could determine the 7A-West championship - should Shiloh Christian stumble against Springdale - as Bentonville West comes in to face the Tigers of Bentonville High.

ABOUT BENTONVILLE WEST

Quarterback Sutton Mackey has thrown for 1,090 yards and 13 TDs. Another impact player on offense is running back VJ Warren, who has rushed for 677 yards and nine TDs while adding another TD receiving.

Warren scored three TDs in last week’s loss to Shiloh Christian - the latter which gave West a 48-38 lead with nearly seven minutes left - before the Saints posted a late comeback. Mackey also had three TD passes last week.

ABOUT BENTONVILLE

The Tigers aced a strong non-conference schedule, highlighted by a 20-14 road win at Conway, currently the No. 2 ranked team in the state. Bentonville also has wins against Tulsa (Okla.) Union and Hays (Kansas).

In last week’s win at Springdale, the Tigers picked off four passes, with Narae Smith getting two of those, returning one of those for a touchdown. Running back Stephen Schafer ran for 118 yards - the third straight game he has rushed for more than 100 yards - with a TD.

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