Bentonville Tigers 2021 Season Recap

With the Bentonville Tigers being playoff contenders and having a strong regular season has become normal over the past ten years. We are going to look at the 2021 season and give a brief look ahead to the spring and next season in this article. The 2021 season was an impressive one with 8-3 record and a 6-1 conference record, with the only loss being to conference champions Fayetteville. The Tigers opened the season with a victory over Liberty North High School out of Missouri. Coach Jody Grant’s squad had a good mix of run and pass all season long. Junior running back [player_tooltip player_id="75143" first="Josh" last="Ficklin"] had a fantastic season for the Tigers. In the process he drew the interest of several division one schools. Ficklin shows terrific burst and good patience in allowing the rushing lane to develop. Ficklin has the chance to be a recruit schools come after next season. [player_tooltip player_id="137290" first="Christopher" last="Collier-Surly"] was another running back that provided a nice dose of thunder to Ficklin’s lightning. Collier-Surly is a running that will play on Saturdays in the future as well. The rushing attack was impressive for the Tigers this season. Meanwhile, the passing game and receiving corps were solid units for the Tigers this season as well. Quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="93558" first="Drew" last="Wright"] did a good job of making tough throws look extremely easy this season. Wright had phenomenal targets this year in the forms of Charles Nimrod and [player_tooltip player_id="93523" first="Cooper" last="Smith"]. Both wide receivers had the speed to stretch the field and keep the defense off of the rushing attack. Nimrod is a Tennessee Volunteers commit and he is someone that will have an opportunity to play on Saturdays next fall. [player_tooltip player_id="93523" first="Cooper" last="Smith"] has picked up several offers as well and he will have a chance to earn some playing next fall on Saturdays. On the defensive side of the ball, the Tigers are going to be replacing [player_tooltip player_id="160632" first="Jackson" last="Hutchens"] and [player_tooltip player_id="75107" first="Luke" last="Wright"]. Both players had impressive seasons at a number of positions for the Tigers this season, [player_tooltip player_id="147105" first="Nick" last="Stone"] and defensive back [player_tooltip player_id="180294" first="JT" last="Tomescko"] will return for the 2022 season. The Tigers should have the pieces in place for a strong defense in 2022. The expectations for the 2022 season are not going to change any for the Bentonville Tigers. Bentonville is always going to have plenty of talented players coming up through the ranks. The Tigers are going to be a team to watch out for in conference play and they are always playoff contenders, year in-year out. Players to watch in the 2022 season: <strong>JT Tomsecko-Defensive Back-2023</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="75143" first="Josh" last="Ficklin"]-Running Back-2023</strong> <strong>Joey Sua-Offensive Line-2023</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="193150" first="Trevor" last="Martinez"]-Offensive Line-2023</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="170203" first="Logan" last="Tymeson"]-Kicker-2023</strong>