PEA RIDGE — The Pea Ridge football Blackhawks won their first victory of the year in convincing fashion as they overwhelmed favored Greenland 40-21.
The 'Hawks' road win upset the Pirates Homecoming festivities, blowing by their hosts with opportunistic defensive plays, key passes and a steady ground attack. Pea Ridge dominated the game in nearly every respect for perhaps their finest effort in years.
"The boys played four solid quarters," an obviously pleased head coach Tony Travis said after the game, "as we kept up our intensity level throughout the contest. It was something that was missing in our first two games.
"While this game was an important one for our program, we don't want it to be the highlight of our season.
We hope to build on this victory with our conference season beginning next week."
The 'Hawks were sparked by senior quarterback Ethan Rhine's defense as well as his offense. Rhine picked off a Pirate pass, returning it for a touchdown and also returned a fumble for a score as well.
Senior running back Tyler Ramsey topped the century mark in rushing for the third straight game and scored the games first touchdown. Bo Rylee, Kyle Westerdale and Nathan Norris each recorded a touchdown in a game with many heroes.
After Greenland stopped the 'Hawks on the opening drive, Jase Sharp knocked the ball loose on the Pirates' third offensive play with Pea Ridge recovering on the home 46 yard line. Rhine kept the ball twice on quarterback sweeps for gains of 11 and 12 yards for a first down on the Pirate 25. An excellent fake by Rhine helped Ramsey break loose for a 22-yard jaunt to the Greenland three where Ramsey took it in on the next play with 5:55 showing on theclock. Rhine's PAT kick was good for a Pea Ridge 7-0 lead.
The 'Hawk defenders gave the Pirates even less time with the ball on their next possession as Rhine broke around the blockers to strip the Pirate ball carrier of the ball, picking up the loose pigskin to race 39 yards to the endzone for another score.
Rhine's kick was again good as Pea Ridge led 14-0 with 5:39 left in the period.
The homecoming Pirates finally got their offensive act together, using 14 plays to march 65 yards for their first score. A 15-yard pass scored the TD and the PAT pass rang up another two points as Greenland shrank the deficit to 14-8 with 41 seconds left in the first quarter.
The 'Hawks didn't take long to respond with Rhine and Ramsey picking up gains of 13 and 18 yards on the first two plays of their possession. A holding penalty set the 'Hawks back until Rhine hit a double teamed Bo Rylee with a 41-yard touchdown pass to expand thelead to 21-8, after Rhine's third straight PAT kick.
Pea Ridge's defense stayed focused as they held the Pirates to no yards gained on three plays, forcing a punt. A nine-yard burst by Ramsey was followed by a nifty pitch from Rhine to Ramsey that netted 18 more yards to help negate a excellent Greenland punt that pushed the 'Hawks back to their own nine. On third and seven from their own 40, Rhine hit Kory Gann with a 38-yard pass that gave the 'Hawks first down on the Greenland 22. On the next play, Andrew Woolard ran into a Pirate wall, backed up then scooted left, outrunning his tacklers for an 18-yard gain to the 4-yard line. Norris banged it in on the next play for a 27-8 lead with 6:43 left in the half.
The Pirates offense was cut short again as Rhine stepped in front of a Pirate pass on their second offensive play, returning it 30 yards for the 'Hawks' fifth touchdown.
The score was set up whenthe 'Hawks sacked the Pirate quarterback for a 15-yard loss on the prior play.
The touchdown lifted the Pea Ridge lead to a whopping 33-8 with 5:49 left in the half.
Greenland showed they weren't going to give up without a fight as they ran the "hook and ladder" play to perfection to score their second TD with 11 seconds left in the half. Their kick was good as they reduced the 'Hawk margin to 33-15.
The 'Hawks came out of the half as focused as before, taking the ball from Greenland on the hosts second play. Another Rhine interception halted them, giving the 'Hawks first down on the Pirate 37. With Ramsey and Norris alternating runs, the 'Hawks banged the ball down to the Pirate three where Rhine found Westerdale loose in the end zone for another score on a third down play. Rhine's fourth good kick ballooned the lead to 40-15.
Both teams traded punts and possessions until Greenland cranked up a nine-yard play, 65-yard drive that culminated in a score with 2:04 left in the game. Bo Rylee snuffed out the two point conversion, leaving the score at 40-21.
Ramsey piled up 107 yards on 19 carries to lead the rushing attack with Rhine going a perfect four for four through the air for 100 yards. Norris had 48 yards on eight carries with Woollard getting 27 yards on three attempts.
The victory was not without cost as standout returner receiver Gann was injured just before the half with either a bruised or broken collar bone.
"We might have lost an awfully good player in Gann, at least for awhile" Travis said, "so we are going to need someone else to step up and fill the gap. We got Westerdale back tonight and we might have Torres back next week though Scott Fisher's injury will keep him out a bit longer. Injuries are a part of the game and we just have to adjust and keep on fighting."
Sports, Pages 7 on 09/23/2009