The Benton Tigers closed the regular season with a 48-14 victory over the Southwood Cowboys Friday night at Newman-Mason Field at Tiger Stadium.
Benton improved to 5-5, an increase of three wins in Stephen Dennis’ second year as head coach. Southwood finished 1-9.
Benton was No. 29 in the non-select Division I power rankings updated at 6 a.m. Saturday. The top 28 teams in the final official rankings make the playoffs.
The LHSAA will announce first-round pairings Sunday.
If Friday night’s game was Benton quarterback Malachi Zeigler’s final one, he went out in style.
The SMU commit passed for two touchdowns and ran for two. The TD passes covered 17 yards to Madden Raymond in the first quarter and 30 to Nick Randall in the second.
Randall’s TD came with 51 seconds left in the second quarter. Jake Wroten’s first extra-point kick gave the Tigers a 21-8 lead.
Zeigler scored on a 25-yard in the second quarter and a 64-yard run in the fourth.
Benton’s other touchdowns came on a 4-yard run by JT Young and 71-yard run by Austin Caple.
After Southwood scored first, Benton scored 41 straight points.