High School Football Preview: Bentonville Tigers (AR) at Mill Valley Jaguars (KS)
Written by Charlie Beuttel
Twitter: @charlie_cds3
RNG on Facebook
The coronavirus has brought chaos upon the world of high school football. High school programs all over the country have been forced to readjust schedules which has brought about some out of state matchups between top programs. One of these battles will be played on September 18 as the Tigers of Bentonville High School from Bentonville, Arkansas, will travel to the Kansas City area to play the Jaguars of Mill Valley High School. Bentonville has won five state titles in their program’s history while Mill Valley has won three. In 2019, Bentonville finished 11-1 and advanced to the 7A state semifinals while Mill Valley won the 5A Kansas State Championship. Both teams have started this chaotic 2020 season 2-0 and are looking to show what they can do against a top program from another state.
Bentonville Tigers
The Tigers started off their season by knocking off Conway (AR) 47-21 on Sept. 4 then escaped past Rockhurst (MO) 21-17. This explosive offense, which has averaged 34 points through the first two games, is led by senior quarterback Andrew Edwards. Edwards has started the season out hot throwing for 348 yards and four touchdowns while having another score on the ground. Junior Chas Nimrod is featured at the wide receiver. Nimrod has caught three touchdowns to go along with his 158 receiving yards. Sophomore tailback Josh Ficklin is the star in the running attack chalking up 219 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.
On defense, Bentonville is led by three-star linebacker Cole Joyce, who is committed to Central Florida. Joyce is an explosive play-maker with 18 total tackles in the win over Conway and came up with some huge stops against Rockhurst. Two other players to watch on the defense are senior defensive back Kolbi Crawford and senior linebacker Keegan Stinespring.
Mill Valley Jaguars
The Jaguars have started the season by blowing out their first two opponents. Their first victim was Derby, who was beaten down 45-14 on Sept. 4 and then last Friday night they destroyed De Soto 70-21. This powerful offense is led by senior quarterback Cooper Marsh who has thrown for 340 yards and four touchdowns and has an additional 157 yards and three more scores on the ground.
Senior running back Quin Wittenauer has contributed with 283 rushing yards and five touchdowns while averaging 7.3 yards per carry. One of Mill Valley’s weapons at wide receiver Jacob Hartman who has caught eight passes for 154 yards and four touchdowns.
Senior linebacker Kolton Jegen is the leader of this defense as he’s racked 23 total tackles including five for a loss through two games. Two other players to watch on this defense include senior safety Hunter Gray, who has 17 total tackles including one for a loss and one pass deflected, and senior defensive lineman Ethan Kremer, who has notched eight total tackles including two for a loss and one sack.
Overview
College football prospects will be displayed on both sidelines as these two powerful programs meet. This is certainly one powerhouse game fans of both teams will not want to miss.
Photo credit: The Kansas City Star; Mill Valley QB Cooper Marsh runs the ball against Derby
Photo credit: Twitter.com; Bentonville LB Cole Joyce
Final: Bentonville Tigers 35 Mill Valley Jaguars28
Mill Valley drive to the 20 with 20 secs left on the clock with a quarterback keep. QB slide feet first for the 1st down and got tackled by one player and speared helmet to helmet by another. Refs ate their flags on a clear personal foul which should have gave Mill Valley the ball, half the distance to the goal with 4 downs and 1 time out. Instead, our QB had to be assisted off the field and a time out assessed. MV replacement QB threw the ball into the End Zone and picked off. Ending the drive and game.
Wow! Great rundown on the final drive. Thank you. I responded out loud to the play by play (LOL). Reads like one heck of a game with two very good teams battling it out, even with some controversy at the end. Congratulations to both teams for playing their butts off! Thanks for posting. – RNG
Watch no. 91 (Tyson Wimbly) for the
Tigers.He’s the Captain on “D” for
B’Ville & one of Coach Cherico’s
proteges.The kid is always being
double teamed & still makes a ton
of tackles,seldom far from the ball.
Go Tigers !
Thank you! Will do! – RNG