ROGERS — It’s late in the season and the Fayetteville Bulldogs have already clinched a playo◊spot.

But coach Daryl Patton doesn’t want his Bulldogs to let down their guard.

“I worry about (a lack of motivation) a lot,” Patton said. “We had a bad practice (Tuesday). Not bad with e◊ort, just concentration.

“I know it’s a grind in the 10th week. We’ve tried to cut back time we’re out there, like most coaches.

“But I told the players (Tuesday), ‘I’m not willing to cut time if we’re not going to have the concentration and focus.’”

Patton warned his team it needs to regain that focus before Friday’s trip to high-scoring Rogers Heritage.

The second-year program hosts the Bulldogs (5-3-1, 4-2 7A-West Conference) for the regular-season finale. Friday’s meeting will decidethe 7A-West Conference’s third and fourth seeds.

“They’ve shown the ability to score quick and often,” Patton said of the War Eagles. “They’ve got our attention and our respect. We’re going to have to play a darn nearperfect game to play with them.”

The Bulldogs, who know they will host a playo◊game for the first time since 2005, look to bounce back from a 39-14 loss to top-ranked Springdale Har-Ber.

The Wildcats held Fayetteville to just 150 yards of o◊ense - including minus-31 yards on the ground - and harassed junior quarterback Brandon Allen. Allen, who leads the league in passing with 2,637 yards and 23 touchdowns, completed 15 of 38 passes for 168 yards in the loss.

“Brandon’s done a great job at quarterback,” Patton said. “Last week was tough going against Har-Ber.

“Our receivers, up until lastweek, have done a great job catching passes. The o◊ensive line has done a pretty good job, until last week, in pass protection. I’m just going to chalk it up to Har-Ber being very talented and they just physically whipped us.”

Har-Ber also hit the Bulldogs for several long passes as Ryan Luther threw for touchdowns of 40 and 69 yards among his five in the game.

Fayetteville will see more of the same against Heritage’s wide-open o◊ense.

And Patton knows the War Eagles (7-2, 4-2) are better on o◊ense and defense than they were last year.

“We’re very respectful of them,” he said. “If you ask every coach that played against them (last year), they’d tell you they were smaller, weaker and not as fast. But they gave everybody a hard time.”

News, Pages 7 on 11/05/2009

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