SPRINGDALE -- Dakota McDonald was in the right place at the right time Friday night.

McDonald's second-quarter touchdown will show up on the stat sheet as a 13-yard pass from his little brother Dalton McDonald. The pass was actually intended for another receiver, but the ball was tipped around and Dakota pulled the ball in at the back of the end zone.

That was just one play in Bentonville West's 45-0 victory against Springdale Har-Ber in Wildcat Stadium. The victory was the first shutout in program history for the 3-year-old Wolverines.

"It's huge to get a shutout any time," Bentonville West Coach Bryan Pratt said. "Anytime you're playing in 7A football, it's tough to get a shutout. They don't come very often, especially with the running clock and that kind of stuff. Really proud of our young guys. You can see us on the sideline, we really want to coach those guys hard and we want our kids to buy into them just like they buy into our varsity."

West (4-3, 4-0 7A-West Conference) won its fourth consecutive game -- all in conference play -- in dominating fashion. The Wolverines intercepted three Har-Ber passes in the first half, two leading to touchdowns, and blocked a punt for a touchdown.

Jonas Higson, who played in his first game back from an injury, said the focus of the Wolverines' defense was to contain Har-Ber running back Jay Burns, who rushed for 323 yards and four touchdowns last week against Springdale. The unit did just that, holding Burns to 35 yards on 14 carries.

"We knew he had a big game a week before against their crosstown rivals, and we knew that they ran a lot of run plays to our strong side," Higson said.

"They told me at the beginning of the week it would be a man-check for me. I just had to man-up this week and our game plan worked out really well."
