Blackhawks barely miss upsetting Hillbillies

— The first play of the game proved to be perhaps the most decisive one as the Ozark Hillbillies escaped with a narrow 14-12 victory over the steadily improving Pea Ridge Blackhawks.

The visiting ’Billies were heavily favored in the first ever gridiron meeting between the two schools. After winning the toss, Ozark elected to receive and ran the ball back 74 yards to the ’Hawk 6 to set up the game’s first score two plays later. Another Ozark touchdown minutes later and it looked it might be a long night for the ’Hawk faithful on Homecoming night as the guests led 14-0 with 6:20 left in the first quarter.

“Things sure didn’t start well for us,” head coach Tony Travis said, “and I was kind of surprised because we had such a good week of practice, the best week we have had all year.”

While starting off in the hole, Travis’ confidence in his players was proven justified as the ’Hawks regrouped to shut out the Ozark offense from midway in the first quarter to the end of the game. Pea Ridge had the distinction of besting Ozark in yards gained (252-207) and in first downs (12-7) and was in control of the game forthe last three quarters.

However, the ’Hawks’ inability to convert the point afters helped the ’Billies get away with the victory.

“We had some special team problems and made some mistakes, but I think it was our best game of the year. Our sophomores are no longer playing like sophomores and we got great effort from everybody,” Travis said.

After falling behind 6-0 just seconds into the game, the ’Hawks drove out to midfield on the strength of runs by Caudill, Woollard and Winn. A fourth down gamble came up just short as Ozark took over on down on the Pea Ridge 46. Jase Sharp got through on first down to stuff a running play and leave the ’Billlies facing long yards. However, a ’Hawks’ offsides penalty aided the ’Billies and a successful 27-yard pass left Ozark knocking on the door at the ’Hawk 3. Ozark pounded it in on first down and ranthe 2-point conversion in as well as they led 14-0 with 6:40 left in the opening quarter.

A good 22-yard kick return by Caudill set the ’Hawks up at midfield on the Pea Ridge 49. Runs by the trio of Caudill, Winn and Woollard pushed the ’Hawks into Ozark territory. A fourth down run was just inches short as the ’Billies took over on their own 42.

Ozark came into town with a vaunted passing attack but the Pea Ridge secondary kept it at bay for the majority of the time. While Ozark did come up with a first-down run out of the backfield, the Ozark signal caller had four straight passes fall incomplete as the ’Billies had to punt, pinning Pea Ridge back on their own 13-yard line.

The ’Hawks wasted no time with this opportunity as Austin Easterling hit a first down pass to Bo Rylee that netted 14 yards to the ’Hawk 27. On the next play, Woollard broke loose on the right side to scamper 35 yards for a first down on the Ozark 38. After Caudill bashed the Ozark line for 2 yards, Easterling threw a perfect pass to Michael Maddox along the east sideline to pick up 29 yards to the Ozark 7. Easterling swept left to pick up 5 yards on first down. The next play saw Winn run offtackle for the remaining two yards to the endzone, thereby cutting the Ozark lead down to 14-6 with 1:04 left in the first quarter.

Ozark responded by driving into Pea Ridge territory for a first down on the ’Hawk 34. The ’Hawk defense nailed a pass receiver at the line of scrimmage for no gain, and after an Ozark pass fell incomplete, Drew Norris barged through the ’Billie line to drop the Ozark quarterback for a 5-yard loss. The sack forced an Ozark punt with the ’Hawks pinned again back at their own 13-yard line.

The 13-yard line proved to a lucky place for the ’Hawks to start as they launched their second straight scoring march. After a 4-yard run by Woollard, Winn fooled a host of defenders with a great fake and dashed for 11 yards to the ’Hawk 38. From there Easterling picked up 18 more yards on a pair of quarterback keepers which was followed by a runs of 4 and 10 by Winn to set the ’Hawks up 1st and 10 on the ’Billie 40. After the ’Billies stuffed a couple of running plays, Winn wiggled free through the right side for 11 yards and a first down.

Pea Ridge kept on gobbling up real estate as Winn and Woollard both reeled off consecutive 12-yard runs to gain a first down on theOzark 3-yard line. The visitors bucked up, however, and tackled ’Hawk ball carriers behind the line of scrimmage to force a fourth and 5 with just seconds left in the half.

On a fourth down play that was hard to follow from anywhere on the field, the ’Hawks used some “Razzle Dazzle” that eventually led to a pass from Bo Rylee to Maddox who broke free in the end zone.

The run to tie the game came up short as Pea Ridge went into intermission down just 2 points, 14-12.

Neither team could move the ball on their first possession in the second half.

On the ’Hawks’ second chance, a 9-yard pass from Easterling to Rylee, 9 yards on two runs by Winn, and an 8-yard keeper by Easterling moved the ball to the 50-yard line, threatening the Ozarks’ lead. A loss on a running play was followed by an incomplete pass to lead to a third and 12 for the ’Hawks. Pea Ridge hopes for a comeback took a blow when one of the Hillbilly defenders caught up to Easterling, grabbed the sophomore field general using a move common in professional wrestling, flinging Easterling to the turf headfirst.

The impact resulted in a concussion knocking Easterling out of the game for the evening.

Both teams failed to gain

any traction for the rest of

the quarter although the

’Billies did mount a threat

midway in the final period.

Relying almost solely on

quarterback sneaks, Ozark

moved the ball 40 yards

to the ’Hawks’ 2-yard line.

Ozark managed to get into

the end zone two times

but each time they were

thwarted by penalties. The

’Hawks then dug in and

stopped the ’Billies as a

fourth down pass fell in

complete.

“You know, I really liked

our game plan,” Travis

said. “We have been im

proving steadily and I am

not surprised that we al

most pulled off the upset.

The boys believe in what

we are doing and they

came to win. Losing Austin

was a blow as our backup

quarterback (Bo Rylee) has

a swollen thumb. Still, if we

had less mistakes, we still

could have won.” The ’Hawks were led on

the ground by Winn who

picked up 69 yards on 17

runs with Woollard gain

ing 61 on 12 carries. Caudill

ran for 11 on five tries with

Easterling having a good

day as he ran for 33 yards

on six tries along with 52

yards through the air on 3

of 6 passing. Rylee was 2

for 2 in passing for 13 yards.

Maddox led the receiv

ers with 42 yards on two

catches with Rylee taking

in two passes for 23 yards.

Sports, Pages 9 on 10/20/2010