ELKINS — Pea Ridge overcame a couple of “déjà vu” experiences from 2010 to forge a new stance in 2010 as the ’Hawks rode the legs of Dayton Winn to post a 14-6 upset of the Elkins Elks on the road last Friday. The junior tailback piled up 207 yards on 26 carries as he logged both touchdowns in the Blackhawks comeback win.
The Elks stopped Pea Ridge defensively in the game’s first series then used the momentum to score on their first try to assume early command, a situation that often bedeviled the ’Hawks in last year’s campaign. This time the ’Hawk defenders rose to the occasion, improving as the game wore on to not allow another score. Their finest moment perhaps came in the game’s last minute after Pea Ridge suffered a special teams breakdown. The miscue allowed Elkins to block a punt and regain possession on the ’Hawks’ 11-yard line.
The ’Hawks, however, kept the Elks out of the end zone as they drove a scrambling Elks quarterback into the turf as time expired.
“This game will really help us,” an obviously pleased head coach Tony Travis remarked. “We had to overcome some mistakes and assert our will and the boys did.
They came together to believe that they could win and that they would win.”
Winn returned the opening kickoff 23 yards to get the ’Hawks started on the Pea Ridge 38. Runs by Winn and Daniel Beard put the ’Hawks into Elks’ territory on the 46 but two pass plays netted a minus 6 yards, and a broken play lost 4 more yards to force a ’Hawk punt. The punt was shanked, traveling only 15 yards to give the Elks great field position on their own 37.
Elkins ran the ball six straight times for 50 yards and a first down on the ’Hawk 23. At this point the Elks went to the air, missing on a first down throw deep. Dalton Morgan sacked the quarterback on second down but a third down rush netted 13 yards and a first down on the ’Hawk 11. Morgan, who really started disrupting Elkins offense, hung a 6-yard loss on the Elks’ ball carrier on first down. The junior defender then got his hands into an attempted Elk hand-off, forcing a fumble that pushed the Elks further back to the Pea Ridge 21. It looked like the ’Hawks just might deny the Elks when their third down pass was batted down. However, a fourth and 20 passing attempt was good at the ’Hawk goal line, propelling the hosts into the lead. The ’Hawk defense, however, poured across the Elk line to stamp out the PAT attempt, blocking the kick to leave the score at 6-0 with 2:36 left in the first quarter.
Beard had a great kickoff return that netted 32 yards to the ’Hawks’ 42. The ’Hawks quickly crossed midfield by way of a 5-yard sweep by Winn and a 17-yard pass from Austin Easterling to Bo Rylee for a first down on the Elkins’ 35.
Winn ran for 3 yards on first down and on second down dashed leftbefore setting sail down the south sidelines for a 32-yard scoring jaunt. Rico Schneider’s successful PAT gave the ’Hawks the lead at 7-6 with :30 left in the opening period. It was a lead they would never relinquish.
Determined to come back, Elkins’ big 6-3, 220 fullback Zac Hutcheson ran twice for 16 yards to push Elkins back into ’Hawk territory early in the second quarter. A pair of quarterback sacks by Morgan pushed the Elks back across midfield where they faced a fourth and 20 from their own 49. The Elks’ punter then got off a booming kick into the end zone to set the ’Hawks up first down on their own 20.
Winn swept right on first down for 13 yards then leaped over tacklers for a 7-yard gainer to get the ’Hawks to their own 40. After another run by Winn (4 yards), Easterling hit receiver Braxton Caudill for 15 yards to the Elkins’ 35. After Winn gained four more, Easterling had a huge 16-yard run negated by a penalty. Winn then erased the Elks’ good fortune by dashing right, then cutting back left to race to the end zone almost untouched, scoring from 45 yards out with 2:32 left in the half. Schneider hit his second straight PAT to widen the ’Hawk advantage to 14-6.
After getting a 16-yard run on first down by Hutcheson, the Elks were stuffed on a fourth and 2 run by Caudill on the Elks’ 49.
A 9-yard run by Winn followed by a 15-yarder by Beard gave the ’Hawks a late threat on the Elkins 30. Three straight incompletions and a fourth down quarterback sack ended the threat with Pea Ridge heading into intermission nursing a 14-6 advantage.
Elkins came out of intermission highly motivated as they used runs by their big fullback and two pass completions by Matt Leichner to gain the Elks a first down on the ’Hawk 25. The ’Hawks batted away a pair of pass attempts then Schneider sacked the quarterback on third down for a 4-yard loss. A desperation fourth down pass was intercepted by Easterling on the 1-yard line to regain Pea Ridge possession.
Operating with their backs to the wall, Winn gave the ’Hawks some breathing room by picking up 13 yards on a pair of carries.
Incomplete passes and no gain rushes forced a subsequent punt,another shanked affair that gave the ball back to Elks on the Pea Ridge 35. A Beard sack of the QB and a pair of penalties denied the Elks a first down. The Elks then unleashed another big punt, a 42 yarder that bounced into the end zone.
It didn’t take long for Pea Ridge to return to Elks territory as Easterling uncorked a 32-yard run for a first down on the Elks’ 45. Winn put together two 14-yard forays to drive the visitors all the way to the Elks’ 7-yard line. Blackhawk ball carriers were thrown for big losses twice to end the threat as the Elks took over on downs on their own 11.
The Elks sputtered until a 40-yard pass by Leichner gave the Elks great field position on the Elks’ 49. However, the ever pesky Morgan got into the Elks’ backfield again, stripping the ball which was covered by a hustling Will Klein on the ’Hawk 44. A personal foul committed by the Elks pushed the ’Hawks into Elkins’ territory but a fumbled pitch turned the ball over to Elkins at the Elks’ 49.
Penalties and passes helped Elkins to get to the ’Hawk 18 before the ’Hawk defense stuffs the quarterback for a 2-yard loss on first down. Just when it appeared that the Elks rumbling fullback might find his way into the end zone, an alert sliding tackle by Caudill saved the day. Zach Oldebekken dropped the quarterback after a short gain on fourth down to regain possession.
With the clock under three minutes to play, Winn did his part, dashing for 15 yards on three carries. However, a pair of penalties thwarted the ’Hawks, forcing a punt with less than 30 seconds left. It appeared the Elks had a chance to pull it out when an untouched defender raced in to block the punt on the 11-yard line.
The ’Hawks regrouped and completely sealed off Elk receivers with the first down pass missing the mark with 13 seconds left in the game. When the ’Hawks again cut off the passing lanes on second down, the quarterback scrambled to the sidelines to stop the clock but an alert defense smothered the signal caller just a few feet from the chalk line. With the clock then left to run, the game expired before the Elks could react, sealing the ’Hawks’ first win of 2011.
Sports, Pages 9 on 09/07/2011