PEA RIDGE — GREENLAND - Winning can cure a lot of ills and the Blackhawks’ 14-8 victory over the Greenland Pirates couldn’t have come at a better time in a game described by head coach Tony Travis as “the sweetest victory that I have ever been a part of.” The Blackhawks won their initial victory of the 2010 season in a game fraught with emotion and adversity.

“In a season thus far marked with frustration and adversity, we lost three key players to suspension just this morning,” Travis said. “We told the team that we could have our season unravel on us or we could just play that much harder.

The boys chose to step it up and I have never had a team play any harder.”

The ’Hawks had standout play from many, led by sophomore quarterback Austin Easterling who rushed for a long touchdown to give the ’Hawks their first lead, intercepted a pass to set up the ’Hawks’ final score, then tossed a touchdown pass to Michael Maddox in the game’s final minute to win the contest.

Maddox also recorded a pair of interceptions to help spark a ’Hawk defense that held the Pirates just 11 yards in rushing offense, averaging a mere 17 inches per carry.

With the early Friday events casting a pall around the team playing in their first road game, the ’Hawks fell behind 2-0 early in the contest when game officials awarded Greenland a safety on a play involvingan incomplete pass thrown by the Blackhawks. With no official signaling the press box explaining the call, the move eclipsed great defensive play by Jase Sharp and Colton Holtgrewe that denied the Pirates a touchdown on their first possession. After receiving the game’s opening kick, Greenland marched 52 yards on 12 plays to threaten to score. After gaining a first down on the ’Hawks’ 12-yard line, the Pirates drive ran aground when Sharp broke through to drop Greenland’s Mc-Cool for a 2-yard loss. Two passing plays resulted in the loss of a yard and left the homeboys facing fourth and long. The Pirates sprang a ball carrier loose for what looked like a run for the end zone until Holtgrewe brought him down to give Pea Ridge the ballon downs on the ’Hawk 4.

The called safety forced the ’Hawks to free kick the ball back to Greenland but the run back was quickly halted by a fast and sure tackle by Jonah Torres who kept the Pirates on the other side of the field. The teams then traded punts before Maddox came up with the first of his two interceptions, running it back 24 yards to give the ’Hawks a first down on the Greenland 44-yard line. The stunned Pirate faithful got a quick second blow when Easterling rode a powerful block by Blake Roughton to dash 44 yards down the north sideline to score. Andrew Woollard’s successful PAT run up the middle put the ’Hawks up 8-2 with 6:14 left in the opening quarter.

For the second straighttime on kick coverage, Torres dashed downfield to drop the Pirate return man for almost no return to push Greenland back to their own 19-yard line. Things were looking even worse for the Pirates on first down as the ’Hawks stripped the ball from the Greenland ball carrier with Dayton Winn covering the fumble on the 23-yard line. A 5-yard run by Easterling got the ball into the red zone on second down but a ’Hawk fumble ended the threat.

The reprieve sparked a Greenland comeback which was aided greatly by an unsportsmanlike penalty on a ’Hawk defender to give the Pirates a first down on the Pea Ridge 45. A few plays later, the Pirates struck for a 32-yard touchdown pass at the 1:26 mark to knot the score at 8-8 with the kick for the pointafter going awry.

A huge penalty bit the ’Hawks early in the second period when a flag thrown on a ’Hawk defender erased a 40-yard punt by Easterling that would have pinned the Pirates deep in their own territory. Instead, Greenland got to put the ball in play from the ’Hawk 40 but another great defensive play by Torres dropped the Pirate ball carrier for a loss on third and short. Forced to go to the air, the Pirates could not convert, thus giving the ball back to Pea Ridge on downs. At this point, neither team mounted a threat for the remainder of the half.

After neither team could move the ball on their first possession of the second half, the Pirates seemingly got a big break with a Greenland punt rolled dead on the ’Hawk 1-yard line.

An 8-yard burst by Woollard on first down gave the ’Hawks some breathing room. A subsequent 27-yard run to daylight by Winn got Pea Ridge out of the danger zone for a first down on the ’Hawk 35.

Eleven yards on two runs by Winn along with runs by 3 and 4 yards by Torres and Easterling put the ball into Greenland territory on the 47. The drive was aborted, however, when two consecutive fumbled snaps forced a ’Hawk punt.

Easterling’s ensuing punt pushed the Pirates all the way back to their own 5-yard line, and Winn’s interception on the very next play gave the ’Hawks great field position on the Greenland 3-yard line. The golden opportunity was turned to dust when a Pirate goal line stand proved immovable. The ’Hawks lost yards on three of the four rushes attempted with Greenland getting the ball back as the third quarter expired.

While the Pirates did gain a first down early in the fourth quarter, a big sack of the quarterback by Roughton forced Greenland to go to the air. A pair of incompletions forced another punt by the Pirate kicker from the Greenland 27. The punter, who had been averaging over 40 yards per kick, looked to push the ’Hawks deep onto their side of the field. In amove that was critical to field position, Easterling decided to catch the punt instead of letting it roll and his 12-yard return gave the ’Hawks a first down on theGreenland 49.

Big runs by Woollard and Winn gave the ’Hawks a first down on the Pirate 24, but a fumble on the very next play turned away the threat, however. The ’Hawks responded with a loss of 5 yards caused by Sharp on a quarterback sack followed by Holtgrewe breaking up a pass.

The plays led to a Pirate punt and a new ’Hawk possession on their own 44.

Woollard rushed for 9 yards on two plays with Easterling 3 more. The ’Hawk drive was then aided by a 15-yard assessment against the Pirates when one of their defenders committed a personal foul against Easterling. Runs by Winn netted 4 and 5 yards as the ’Hawks drove to the Pirate 14-yard line. Another ’Hawk fumble doused the threat, however.

The two straight fumbles by the ’Hawks seemed to energize the Pirates as they quickly moved 35 yards on four plays to gain a first down at midfield.

Easterling then came up with the play of the game as he tipped a Greenland pass, juggled it for a bit, then tucked it in and raced 49 yards before being brought down on the Greenland 11-yard line. Winn wiggled through for 6 yards to the Pirate 5 where two plays later, Easterling flipped a short pass to Maddox who broke open in the right side of the end zone. The score gave the ’Hawks a 14-8 lead with but 54 seconds left on the clock.

A ’Hawk kickoff out of bounds gave Greenland possession on their own 35 to start their last chancefor victory. Passes of 12, 14 and 15 yards netted the hosts a first down on the ’Hawk 25, but Pea Ridge didn’t allow a completion on the next four passing attempts. The fourth down pass was incomplete with the last thrown ball bouncing harmlessly on the turf with just 3 seconds left in the game.

For the third straight week, Winn led the rushing attack with 93 yards on 18 carries. The sophomore back is averaging over 100 yards per week

Besides the game-winning touchdown pass, Easterling also rushed for 70 yards on 13 carries. Woollard added 47 yards on 10 trips with Braxton Caudill gaining 9 yards on six attempts.

“We needed a win and we did just enough to come away with one,” Travis said. “The whole teamworked hard for this and I’ve never been prouder.

Greenland’s star running back (McCool) rushed for 168 yards in his last game and was named Northwest Arkansas Star of the Week but our defensive line completely shut them down.

Our coaching staff has put the time in to correct our mistakes and shortcomings and it’s beginning to show.”

“We have some big tests ahead of us and the games are going to get tougher and tougher,” Travis said, “but we are getting better week by week.”

Currently unbeaten Gravette, the last district team to defeat juggernaut Shiloh, will be coming to town next week as the conference schedule opens in Blackhawk Stadium.

Sports, Pages 7 on 09/22/2010