PEA RIDGE — It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and those times were awfully close together as the ’Hawks lost 18-12 in the closing seconds to Green Forest.
After getting dominated in the first quarter, the ’Hawks came back to stop the visiting Tigers in their tracks and went into the locker room down only 6-0. The young ’Hawks stormed into the third quarter to tie the score 6-6 in less than a minute from the opening kick. Two plays later, however, the ’Hawks’ joy turned sour when the Tigers struck back on a 61-yard run coming on a busted play to restore their 6-point lead. Early in the fourth quarter, the ’Hawks launched a hard-fought time consuming a 16-play drive to tie the game again with only 54 ticks left on the clock. A letdown, however, was fast in coming as the Tigers hooked up on a 65-yard pass play to score on the very next play to regain their 6-point edge in less than 15 seconds.
“No loss is fun,” coach Tony Travis lamented, “but this one hurt in particular. We should have had well more than 12 points, and the defense responded really well to keep us in the game. Four or five plays really killed us in a game that I think we played well enough to win.”
Indeed, in the second half, except for the 61-yard and 65-yard scoring plays, the ’Hawks held Green Forest to just 26 yards on their other 17 offensive plays. In the second period, the ’Hawks stopped the Tiger running game for no gain on six straight plays, with Green Forest gaining just 19 yards in the quarter on some completed passes in the final minute before the half.
In a start reminiscent of last week’s game against Elkins, the visitors began the game by controlling the line and using six running plays to gain a first down on the ’Hawk 29. After a holding call left the Tigers looking at a 3rd and 19 from the 37, Green Forest went to the air and a defensive mix-up left a receiver open downfield which led to the game’s first score with 8:20 on the clock for a 6-0 lead.
After getting the ball on the 20 following the kickoff, senior Andrew Woollard picked up 11 yards on a pair of carries and also caught a 7-yard pass from Austin Easterling. The ’Hawks ran out of steam and had to punt the ball on fourth down. A good Dalton Fisher punt went for 37 yards to put the Tigers back on their own 32.
Looking to repeat their opening drive, the Tigers stayed on the ground to grind out four more first downs and move the ball to the ’Hawk 12-yard line as the first quarter expired. After the brief time-out, Pea Ridge shocked the Tigers by stuffing three straight running plays to force the Tigers to pass on fourth down. Jase Sharp got to the quarterback to break up the play and get the ball back on downs.
Pea Ridge could not move the ball with Green Forest taking over on the ’Hawk 40 after a 24-yard punt. The ’Hawk line continued to hold, stopping the Tigers for no gain on their first two rushes. Two passing plays could not get the Tigers to the first down marker with Pea Ridge taking over on their own 30.
The ’Hawks used their new life to finally get their offense untracked with Woollard dashing for 7 yards on first down. Four straight runs by sophomore Dayton Winn netted 22 yards to give Pea Ridge a first down on the Green Forest 42. Woollard picked up four more yards, then Cody Edwards bulled up the middle for eight more and a first down on the Tiger 30. After some short gains, Winn seemingly gained a first down on the 19 with a 3-yard run but a holding penalty pushed the ball back to the 23. Easterling lateralled the ball to Bo Rylee on fourth down who rolled out and fired a pass into the end zone but an open ’Hawk receiver couldn’t quite get to it as the threat was extinguished.
It appeared the ’Hawks were not to be denied as Woollard picked up 10 yards on the first play in the third quarter with Winn breaking free for 66 yards to get the ’Hawks a first down on the Green Forest 4. On first down, Woollard dashed to pay dirt to tie the game at 6-all with 11:07 left in the quarter. The joyous crowd was brought back down to earth moments later when, after a rushing play was broken up by the ’Hawk defenders, the Tigers broke numerous tackles to wiggle free and sprint 61 yards to score with 10:10 on the clock.
At this point, both defenses tightened things up with the teams trading punts for the rest of the third quarter. In the final seconds of the period, the ’Hawks went for it on fourth and 5 with running back Daniel Beard coming up somewhere between a half or a quarter-inch short as the Tigers took over on downs on the Pea Ridge 45.
The ’Hawks continued to hold the Tigers into the fourth quarter with the ’Hawks getting the ball back on their own 26 with 8:56 left in the game. Things didn’t start well as a fine 9-yard run by Woollard was erased by a holding penalty on the Hawks. Woollard broke through for 11 more on the next play and 9 yards on a burst by Winn gave the ’Hawks a first down on the 40. Woollard and Winn combined for 15 more yards followed by two rushes by Easterling that gained 13 more yards and a first down on the Green Forest 32. The ’Hawks were facing third and long when Green Forest was flagged for roughing the passer, thus giving the ’Hawks new life at the Tiger 10 1/2 yard line. Two 4-yard runs by Winn left Pea Ridge two inches short of the first down marker, and six inches short of the goal line.
Easterling went to a long count calling the next play and the ruse was successful in drawing the Tigers offsides and giving Pea Ridge a first down on the four-inch line. From there, Winn dived into the end zone to tie the game for the second time. A chance to gain the lead was stopped inches short of the goal line as the game was knotted at 12-12 with just 00:54 left in the contest.
The ’Hawks’ soaring spirits crashed just seconds later when the Tigers got a receiver behind the defensive backs on an assignment mix-up similar to the mix-up for the Tigers’ first touchdown and the visitors sailed into the end zone in what was the winning score. A good kick return by Rylee got the ball near midfield but having just 30 seconds to go 58 yards was a taller order than the ’Hawks could fill.
“We did improve from last week’s game,” Travis said. “But we still have issues to work on. I’m extremely proud of the way they kept fighting and, make no mistake, they are playing to win. This loss hurt and we will find out how much pride we have. We have our first road game next week against a team that we beat rather soundly last year. We are going to have to improve some more if we are going to have a chance. Having said that, I believe we will improve because these kids have shown good character and they have the heart to be winners.”
Sophomore Winn led the offense with 129 rushing yards on 12 carries. Woollard rushed 14 times for 64 yards with Edwards gaining 10 yards on two carries with Easterling picking up 11 yards on eight tries. Easterling also completed a pair of passes for 11 yards.
Sports, Pages 7 on 09/15/2010