The Bobcats owned a narrow 7-6 lead over the Trojans due to a missed field goal after the first 12 minutes, but from then on it was all Benton.

West Marshall could only watch as the Bobcats marched up and down the field to the tune of 27 unanswered points, and by the time the Trojans added their second touchdown of the game late in the fourth quarter it was already too late as Benton rolled to a 34-13 victory.

West Marshall head coach Cody Hackett said there was no secret to what the Bobcats brought to the field on Friday night.

“We went through all week in practice, we knew what they were going to do and they lined up did what they were going to do,” Hackett said. “They didn’t do anything different, nothing we didn’t coach our guys to do in practice, they lined up and pretty much told us what they were going to do and got the job done.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON - West Marshall defenders Chase Burr (30), Cameron Bannister (17), David Willis (50) and Peyton Pope (5) help bring down Benton Community receiver Jack Shaw during the Trojans’ 34-13 loss to the Bobcats on Friday in Van Horne.

“Our guys weren’t very tough tonight at times, we had a lot of blank stares on our face when adversity hit a little bit, then we put ourselves in bad positions at times,” Hackett continued. “We weren’t lining up right and that’s something we hadn’t had in the past few weeks. It’s like we are back to week one, we have some guys that need to grow up and toughen up a little bit if they want to reach their goal to make the playoffs.”

Benton (7-1, 3-1) had no trouble moving the ball against a usually stingy Trojan defense. The Bobcats scored on five of their eight possessions, with West Marshall (6-2, 3-1) only forcing them to punt once and the other two ending at halftime and the end of the game.

Quarterback Clayton Krousie was 14-for-18 passing with 159 yards and three touchdowns, while running back Matt Davis had 135 yards and two scores on 22 carries.

“We knew they were going to run the ball, Matt Davis is a really good running back. He is thick, he’s got some strong legs and a strong lower body,” Hackett said. “We had him wrapped up a few times and he broke through to make some plays for them. We would get them to where they were making some long drives, getting them to 10 or 12 plays then get into good position then we got burned over the top with a pass. I think our DB’s fell asleep at times and that is what cost us.”

West Marshall quarterback Cameron Bannister had an alright night passing the ball, finishing 14-for-21 with 149 yard and a touchdown, but he barely had any time to make something happen.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON

Bannister was either sacked or tackled for a loss 10 times, and he managed just six yard rushing on 19 carries.

“Cam is our go-to guy and teams know that, but they did a great job of stopping him,” Hackett said. “They had a lot of pressure on him in the pass game and on the other side Cam made some mistakes even signalling, I think he was a little flustered and frustrated back there. It wasn’t the normal Cam Bannister, and I think that is where he has to grow up. He got frustrated and started giving that blank look as well as some of our other senior leaders. They’ve got to grow up, they’ve got to move on, they’ve been starters for me for three or four years now and now it’s their time, they have to fix it.”

The Trojans had a chance to gain some much-needed momentum when they got the ball after halftime, trailing 20-6. West Marshall marched down the field until it got to the Benton 29-yard line, then the Bobcats forced the Trojans to turn it over on downs with another strong stand that included multiple Bannister sacks.

“That’s a killer, especially when you come out ready to go,” Hackett said. “You tell your team it’s 0-0 and a new ballgame in the second half, and I thought we came out real well. They got to our best playmaker and they schemed well against him, I’m not going to lie they did a great job and I give props to their coaching staff.”

While Bannister was wrapped up in the running game, running back Chase Burr actually found some room to maneuver. After having just three carries for eight yards in the first half, Burr went for 74 yards on nine carries in the second, including a 42-yard scamper on the last drive to set up the Trojans’ final touchdown.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON

Burr also added four catches for 40 yards, and Hackett said he needs to be more involved in the offense moving forward.

“We have to get Chase the ball a little more, obviously teams are going to be ready for Cam and they are going to key Cam, and that’s where Chase is going to have to get the ball and show that he can run it,” Hackett said. “He does a great job for us, he’s a hard runner for a small guy but I tell you what, he’s got toughness and he is one of the strong points on our team.”

West Marshall’s final game essentially becomes a must-win for the playoff picture, as they host Union Community next Friday for their final regular season tilt of the year. The Knights are tied with Benton at No. 6 in 2A and are 4-0 in District 7 play after a 23-20 win over Nevada, and Hackett said his guys will show up ready to play.

“Our guys play hard, I give props to them every night, they come out and play but tonight they just had a little bit of a blank stare in their face. They got punched in the mouth and didn’t seem to do much to overcome it,” he said. “They know now and they are going to learn, I promise you that. I know next Friday night you will see a different West Marshall team that you didn’t see tonight.”

Benton Community 34, West Marshall 13

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON

At Van Horne

WM 6 0 0 7 — 13

BC 7 13 0 14 — 34

First Quarter

BC — Jack Shaw 8 pass from Clayton Krousie (Zach Brecht kick), 8:05.

WM — Jake Tollefson 4 pass from Cameron Bannister (kick failed), 2:44.

Second Quarter

BC — Nathan Michels 22 pass from Krousie (kick failed), 9:13.

BC — Michels 6 pass from Krousie (Brecht kick), 1:27.

Third Quarter

No scoring.

Fourth Quarter

BC — Matt Davis 2 run (Brecht kick), 9:07.

BC — Davis 5 run (Brecht kick), 5:44.

WM — Colby McMorran 5 run (Peyton Pope kick), 1:46.

TEAM STATISTICS

WM BC

First downs 15 20

Rushes-yards 36-104 35-170

Passing yards 149 159

Comp-Att-Int 14-21-0 14-18-0

Total offense 57-263 53-329

Fumbles-lost 5-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 8-70 3-30

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING — WM: Chase Burr 12-82, Colby McMorran 2-10, Preston Pope 3-8, Cameron Bannister 19-6; BC: Davis 22-135, Krousie 6-22, Shaw 5-8, Hunter Northup 2-5.

PASSING — WM: Bannister 14-21-149-0; Krousie 14-18-159-0.

RECEIVING — WM: Jake Tollefson 5-53, Burr 4-40, Josh Larson 3-25, Joe Halverson 2-21; BC: Shaw 10-99, Michels 4-60.

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