GENTRY — Pea Ridge rode a tough ground defense and a 183-yard rushing performance by tailback Dayton Winn to roll over the Gentry Pioneers 25-0 in a 4A-1 District matchup last week.
The first cold evening of the 2012 season saw both teams sputter on offense until the ’Hawks finally pushed through a score mid-way though the second period to take a 7-0 lead going into intermission. Two third-quarter TDs and a touchdown early in the fourth quarter put the game away.
“We had some adversity, but our boys fought through it,” head coach Tony Travis remarked following the game. “The line played extremely well and kept us in it until the offense got going. We had some new starters and they stepped up big.”
The ’Hawk defenders held Gentry to a single yard of rushing offense. Winn scored twice rushing, Jack Rapp caught a touchdown pass from Austin Easterling and Braxton Caudill scored on a defensive gem to provide the visitors with their scores.
They started like the ’Hawks were going to roll early. After a couple of runs left the ’Hawks short and long in their first series, quarterback Easterling threw a perfect pass to Braxton Caudill near the goal line, but a premature tackle by the Pioneers resulted in a pass interference call and a first down on the Gentry 42. After Winn gained a couple of yards, Easterling rolled left, executed a tremendous fake, then raced 22 yards to the Gentry 18-yard line. Two plays later, thethreat was snuffed out when the quarterback was hit while throwing, pushing the ball off course and into the hands of a Pioneer.
After the ’Hawks stuffed the first Pioneer rushing attempt, Gentry’s field general connected for what would have been a first down pass 20 yards upfield, before Winn knocked the ball out of the receiver’s hands the moment he caught it.
With Gentry determined to stop Winn first on each play, the ’Hawks took to the air but couldn’t get a first down, resulting in a punt. A Tyler Handy sack of the quarterback two plays later offset two completed passes by Gentry as the ’Hawks forced another punt, giving the ball to Pea Ridge on the ’Hawk 42-yard line.
After Winn opened the series with a 3-yard run, Easterling matched his effort and was tackled by his face mask, which added 15 more yards to the Pioneer 39.
Winn burst through for 10 yards on first down. Three more runs by Winn netted 11 more yards and a first down on the 18. After 4 yards by Winn, Easterling rolled right and dashed for 8 yards to the Gentry 6. A penalty assessed against Pea Ridge pushed them back to the ’Hawk 15, but two runs by Winn brought them back to the Gentry 1-yard line. The offensive line and Winn bashed their way into the end zone for the touchdown for the game’s first tally. Nick DeLeon’s successful kick gave Pea Ridge the lead at 7-0 with 7:05 left in the half.
The Pioneers used a 15-yard penalty and a 27-yard pass from Cousins to Brown to get into Pea Ridge territory at the 48. After two Pioneer rushes netted buta single yard, Gentry kept their drive alive with a 13-yard pass to the ’Hawk 34. First Dalton Morgan, then Jonah Torres, threw Gentry ball carriers for losses on successive plays, but a 15-yard pass from Cousins to Sturley gave the Pioneers new life on the Pea Ridge 21. Passes on first and second down were incomplete and the third attempt was swiped by Caudill to derail the drive and keep the score at 7-0 going into the half.
The ’Hawks and Pioneers traded punts until the ’Hawks pulled off a two-play drive that earned them another touchdown. After Easterling raced for 18 yards on a first down play, Winn burst up the middle, then veered right to out race the Pioneer secondary to the end zone, gaining 67 yards in doing so. The kick snap was mishandled to leave the score at 13-0 with 4:35 left in the third quarter.
The ’Hawks then got some breathing room on the next play when ’Hawk defenders crashed through to sandwich the ball carrier, knocking the pigskin loose, which Caudill scooped up and returned 34 yards for another score, boosting the lead to 19-0 with 4:11 left.
Pea Ridge then added insult to injury with Torres lunging to intercept the Pioneers’ first play following the kickoff. Winn then picked up 21 yards on three carries for a first down on the Gentry 23. A 10-yard penalty pushed the ’Hawks back to the 33 and a fourth down pass was incomplete.
The Pioneers still could not move the ball as they were forced to punt from their 38-yard line. A high snap went over the punter’shead, but the kicker scrambled and got off a punt which was downed at the line of scrimmage, resulting in a net punt of 0 yards.
Winn broke loose for 15 yards on first down with Morgan muscling through for 8 more on the next play. Two runs by Winn pushed the ball to the Gentry 7 where Easterling hooked up with Jack Rapp on third down for the score as the ’Hawks put the game away, leading 25-0 with 9:11 left in the game.
An interception by Winn moments later gave the ’Hawks’ great field position, with Travis using the remaining time to clear the bench with the ’Hawks spending the rest of the game on Gentry’s end of the field.
Winn had another great day rushing, picking up two touchdowns and 183 yards on 25 carries. Easterling added 50 yards on five carries with Morganchipping in 20 yards on two forays. Dylan McClellan picked up 5 yards on three tries. In all, Pea Ridge out rushed Gentry 253 to 1.
In the passing game, Easterling was 4 of 11 for 42 yards. Rapp caught two of the passes for 40 yards and a score. Gentry’s Faulkenberry was 9 of 23 for 48 yards. Pea Ridge out gained their county rivals 296 to 49 in total yardage.
“We have a really tough game next with Ozark coming to town,” Travis said. “The Hillbillies are highly ranked and have proven to be a very tough team to beat.”
MaxPreps has the ’Billies ranked as the state’s No. 6 team in 4A. The ’Hawks fell from No.
9 to No. 10 this week in the polls ahead of Farmington’s No. 11, a team they visit in two weeks. The state’s No. 1 team, Prairie Grove, will be coming to Pea Ridge next week in another big battle.
Sports, Pages 7 on 10/10/2012