Blackhawk comeback sinks Pioneers 25-21

— In the annual Homecoming game, Blackhawk tailback Dayton Winn fought through a night of stomach pain that had head coach Tony Travis worried.

However, Winn’s intestinal distress wasn’t nearly as bad as the stomach ache the junior back gave the Pioneers when his theft of a Gentry pass into the end zone flipped the tables on the guests and led to a 25-21 come from behind victory.

Although described by Travis as “looking kind of green,” Winn was on his game enough to rack up four touchdowns and rush for 252 yards. Travis was concerned enough about Winn’s health to hold him out of defensive play in the early going. When the third-year coach finally did insert Winn back onto the field for defense in the fourth quarter, the defensive back responding by snaring a pass intended for a Gentry receiver deep in the Pea Ridge end zone. Had the Pioneers scored on the play, it would have more than likely have iced the contest for Gentry as they would have led 28-12 with just 9 minutes left in the game.

However, Winn did take the pass and ran the ball out to the ’Hawk 20. A frustrated Pioneer quarterback then flung his helmet at the ’Hawks, drawing a 15-yard penalty to put Pea Ridge on the 35. On the very next play, the Pioneers committed pass interference to move the ball to the midfield strip. From there, it took a 30 yard strike from quarterback Austin Easterling to Winn for a first down in the 20. After an incomplete pass, Winn set sail for the end zone, racing past several Gentry defenders for the score.

Rico Schneider’s kick was good to shave the Gentry lead to 21-19 with 7:32 left in the game.

A fired up ’Hawk defense came up big after Gentry got the ball back on the Pioneer 35. Three rushes netted minus 1 yard and the guests were forced to punt. The ensuing punt gave the ball to Pea Ridge on their own 34 with just over 5 minutes left in the game. From there, the ’Hawks went on to score the winning touchdown in nine plays, with Winn going over from the 1-yard line with 1:58 left in the game.

The big run was Winn’s 20-yard scamper for a first down on the Pioneer 3-yard line as the ’Hawks forged ahead 25-21.

Blackhawk heroics were far from over as the Pioneers were determined to come back and spoil the ’Hawks’ Homecoming.

With the ’Hawks known for their less than stellar kicking game, Gentry had their return men positioned on the 20, hoping for a big run back to give them a chance to score. They were crossed up when Schneider had the best kickoff of his short kicking career, booming it over the heads of the Pioneers with the resultingscramble leaving Gentry stuck on their own 16-yard line. With time running out and facing a second and 2 from the 24, the Pioneers got a man into first down territory, cheering the visiting fans. The cheers soon turned to groans when a couple of ’Hawk defenders stripped the ball from the Pioneer ball carrier with Winn leaping on the loose pigskin on the Gentry 38.

Winn then rushed twice for 12 yards and a first down with Travis then opting to let the clock run out on the battle.

“I thought Winn looked as green as a Sprite bottle,” Travis remarked. “I held him out of defense so he could make it through the game, but we just had to have him out there in the fourth.”

“I am exceptionally proud of all the boys in the way we battled tonight. We had a lot of injuries and we were a little flat after last week’s game against Shiloh, and things just didn’t seem to be going our way. On the Gentry drive where Winn pulled the interception, if the Pioneers scored, it would have been monumentally difficult to come back from that deficit,” Travis continued. “The team came together, however, and did what they had to do. There were a lot of heroes out there tonight.”

The game started well enough for the ’Hawks.

Runs by Winn and Braxton Caudill moved the ball to the Gentry 34 early in the game A big sack of the ’Hawk quarterback led to a punt which Cory Lawson executed beautifully, traveling 39 yards to pin the Pioneers back on their own 17-yard line. Gentry could not gain a first down and was forced to punt the ball back to Pea Ridge which gave the hosts the ball on their own 43.

On first down, Winn crossed mid-field on a 15-yard run. After runs by Winn and Easterling netted 9 yards, Winn charged upfield for 13 more and first down on the Gentry 20.

Winn and Caudill ran for 2 and 3 yards to the 14 where Winn burst through for 13 yards on fourth down. A 1-yard plunge by Winn put the ’Hawks ahead 6-0 with 1:27 left in the quarter.

Coming into the game as a 3-point underdog, Gentry decided to go to the air after the ’Hawk score. Quarterback Jarrod Cousins completed four passes, with the last one covering 22 yards to pay dirt with 10:15 left in the half. The PAT kick was good to put Gentry on top 7-6.

Stung by the early deficit, the ’Hawks wasted no time to get back on top, sparked by Daniel Beard’s tough 30-yard return of the kickoff.

With Caudill rushing for 3 and Winn picking up 14 yards on two carries, Pea Ridge had first down in Gentry territory at the 43.

After a short gain by Jonah Torres, Easterling hooked up with Winn to gain 5 yards to the Gentry 27.

Winn and Easterling both picked up 5 yards each for a first down on the 17 where Easterling found Schneider open for a 15-yard pass to the Pioneer 4. Two runs by Winn and the ’Hawks were back in the lead. The passfor the extra point failed leaving Pea Ridge on top 12-7 with 4:31 left in the half.

In a defensive stand that would loom large late in the contest, the ’Hawks allowed Gentry to gain a first down on the ’Hawk 10-yard line after a fiveplay mostly passing attack.

Caudill put the skids to the Pioneer march when he broke through to sack the quarterback for a 1-yard loss. After an 8-yard gain was stopped just short of the goal line, Blake Roughton dealt the visitors a blow as he dropped the Gentry ball carrier for a 1-yard loss on third down. The clock then ran out preserving the ’Hawks’ lead at intermission.

Things started most ominously for the ’Hawksto start the second half. The band had not left the field when the half-time clock ran down, which resulted in a 5-yard penalty on the ’Hawks to start play. Alternating passes and hand-offs to the Pioneers Tanner Coy, Gentry ran roughshod over the ’Hawks to pick up four straight first downs on for plays to score a touchdown in just 83 seconds. An 18-yard pass at the 10:37 mark netted the Pioneers the lead. A good PAT kick put them on top 14-12.

The ’Hawks couldn’t move the ball after the kickoff, bogged down by penalties and quarterback sacks.

The resulting ’Hawk punt gave the ball to Gentry on their own 32 with 7 minutes left in the third period.

Four of the Pioneers’ next five plays earned first downs as they quickly moved to the ’Hawk 28.

When a ’Hawk defensive back pushed off on a Pioneer receiver before the ball got there, the resulting penalty gave the visitors a first down on the Pea Ridge 14. Two plays later saw Coy dash 8 yards to pay dirt with the good PAT expanding the Gentry lead to 21-12.

A good 24-yard runback by Torres gave the ’Hawks some hope with big runsby Winn and a 17-yard pass from Easterling to Joel Thomas getting the homeboys into Pioneer territory at the Gentry 31. A holding call derailed the drive and a fourth down pass fell incomplete to turn the ball over to Gentry with 51 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Pioneers were sensing a chance for a knock out blow and the quickly marched down the field, picking up four first downs in quick succession as Gentry was set up on a first down at the ’Hawk 11. On second down, the Gentry signal caller spotted Coy in the corner of the end zone and the pass was on the mark until an alert Winn leaped up to snare the pass and start the sequenceof events that led to the ’Hawks’ winning comeback.

The victory evened the ’Hawks’ 2011 record at 3-3 and was their first conference win since 2009. Winn’s 252-yard total pushed him past 1,000 yards for the season as the junior has also scored a dozen touchdowns for the campaign. Easterling was four for six in the passing attack, good for 77 yards. Winn’s 45 yards receiving gave him 297 yards total offense for the game.

For the game, the ’Hawks outgained the Pioneers 337 to 300. Both teams picked up 17 first downs with the ’Hawks getting half their total in the game’s final quarter.

The ’Hawks will be making their first trip ever to Ozark for an important conference tilt this Friday.

Ozark fell to Gravette 20-13 last Friday but is still ranked in the top five of some state polls. The ’Hawks, with a 1-2 district mark, will need to win three of their last four games in order to get into the playoff this season.

They play the Hillbillies this Friday to be followed by games with Farmington and Prairie Grove. The regular season will end at home against league doormat Berryville.

Sports, Pages 13 on 10/12/2011