Turnovers, mistakes and missed tackles played a big part in the Blackhawks’ 26-12 loss to Gravette in the league opener for both schools.
“We just didn’t come in focused on playing,” Tony Travis, head coach for the Blackhawks, said, “and that’s on me. We played well at times but started both halves with mistakes that made it extremely hard to come back on the Lions’ home turf.”
“Their big tailback bounced off a lot of our tacklers, and we did a very poor job protecting our quarterback. We’ll have to do a lot better if we hope to win our next game,” Travis continued.
After receiving the opening kick to start the game, Gravette tailback Cedric Duarte carried the ball four times for 44 yards to help the Lions take an early lead. Duarte broke numerous tackles for a 21 yarder to get into ’Hawk territory on the 35 yard line, then broke loose, breaking several more tackles for 14 yards to the ’Hawk 22. Colton Watkins slowed the Lion advance by hanging a 4-yard loss on Duarte from the ’Hawk 17, but a Wyatt Banta pass to Cody Heaton covered the 21 yards to paydirt and a lead the hosts would never relinquish, going up 7-0 with 8:28 left in the fi rst quarter.
The ’Hawks’ hopes to erase the early lead evaporated quickly when the first play of the game for the Pea Ridge o
•ense was fumbled away to the Lions. With a short field from the ’Hawks’ 32, Gravette used two runs by Duarte and a pass from Banta to Duarte placed the Lions inside the ’Hawks’ 10-yard line. A 3-yard run by Cody Robinson and a personal foul penalty on the ’Hawks put the ball on the Pea Ridge 3 where Robinson rammed it in on third down to inflate the lead to 13-0 with 3:50 left in the quarter.
Things then went from bad to worse when the ’Hawks fumbled their first play after the kickoff again, giving the Lions excellent field position on the Pea Ridge 33. This time the ’Hawks bowed their backs and forced the Lions to relinquish the ball on downs. Junior Blackhawk Justice Jenkins broke through to drop the Lion ball carrier for a loss on first down, and a run by Duarte was stopped after 3 yards. Two incomplete passes got the ball back to the ’Hawks on their own 31.
Seth Brumley finally got the offense moving with a 15-yard pass to Jack Rapp. Brumley then ran for 2 yards before hooking up with Garrett Easterling for a 5-yard pass completion to the ’Hawk 48. Before he could throw to receivers on third down, Brumley was brought down for a 6-loss to force a ’Hawk punt. Logan Rose’s 40-yarder pinned the Lions deep into their own territory on the 13.
A short run by Duarte, another tackle for a loss by Jenkins, and an incompletion forced a Lion punt, and a sensational 35-yard punt return gave Pea Ridge a fi rst down on the Gravette 5-yard line. On the next play, Shane Ivy took it in for the score, shrinking the Gravette lead to 13-6 with 11:39 left in the half.
The Lions were again held in check by the ’Hawks, having to punt after failing to gain a fi rst down. While Brumley gained 9 yards on a pass to Ivy on the ’Hawks’ next off ensive series, the ’Hawks] of ensive line was penetrated twice, ending in lost yardage both times and forcing a punt.
On the first play of the Lions’ next series, their quarterback Banta got loose on a keeper, and broke through to nearly go all way before being stopped by Austin Hicks as the Pea Ridge defender dropped Banta on the ’Hawk 43. Duarte then broke six tackles on the next play to run to the Pea Ridge 10, but the ’Hawk defense sti ened and took over on their own 20 after a missed field goal attempt.
Pea Ridge then made a determined e ort to tie the game, sparked by a 35-yard jaunt by Ivy which took the ’Hawks into Lion territory on the 45. Brumley then hit Rose for 16 yards to the Lion 29 for a first down. After two runs by Easterling got the ball to the 24, Brumley ran 12 yards on a sprint to get a first down and get out of bounds with the clock ticking down. Blackhawk fans rose to their feet when the next play saw a wide open ’Hawk in the end zone reach for a pass, but the ball was dropped. A run for no gain and two incomplete passes ended the ’Hawks’ chances to tie the game before intermission.
The ’Hawks had another chance to tie the game as they received the second half kick off. However, a procedure penalty on the fi rst play put them in hole on their own 24. Pass pursuit hurried a pass which fell incomplete on first down, and a run was stopped for no gain. Facing a third and 15, the ’Hawks were forced to go to the air and the Lions were ready, snatching the pass for an interception to get the ball in Pea Ridge territory on the 47.
With Duarte breaking many tackles on five rushing attempts, the Lions soon had a first down on the ’Hawks’ 4-yard-line. Duarte ran it in on the next play to extend the hosts’ lead to 20-6 with 8:24 left in the third quarter.
Brumley threaded a pass to Logan Rose for 20 yards to get a first down on the ’Hawk 44 to give the visitors some hope, but runs for losses and a quarterback sack forced another punt. Starting on their own 23, the Lions took just six plays to score again. The big blow was a 38-yard scamper by Duarte to the ’Hawk 30. A couple of runs and a personal foul fl ag on the ’Hawks gave the Lions a fi rst down on the ’Hawk 13. Two runs by Duarte put the ball into the end zone, also putting the hosts fi rmly
ahead 26-6.
Sticking solely to the ground game, the ’Hawks then launched a nine-play, 68-yard drive to give them their second score. Dylan McClellan began the march with a 6-yard run followed by a 19-yard keeper by Brumley. Ivy broke loose for 15 yards, following it up for 12 more yards two plays later for a first down on the Gravette 16. Ivy punched through for 6 more with Brumley keeping again for 6 yards and a first down on the 4-yard line. From there, McClellan took it in with 10:56 left in the game to narrow the gap to 26-12.
Tough running by Duarte got them back into Pea Ridge territory but the drive bogged down on the ’Hawk 41 where the Lions lost the ball on downs. Brumley lofted passes of 5 yards and 12 yards to Rose. While Ivy managed to pick up 7 tough yards on a sweep play, Brumley was hotly pursued by pass defenders who got through to infl ict three sacks on the Pea Ridge field general. The last sack turned the ball over on downs and Gravette then ran out the clock to end the game.
Ivy led the offense with 83 rushing yards on nine carries, scoring a touchdown. McClellan ran three times for 10 yards with Brumley leading the passing attack with nine of 16 passing for 89 yards. Four of those passes went to Rose for 51 yards.
Duarte was the offensive star of the game, gaining 223 yards for Gravette on 24 carries.
The Blackhawks will play at home this week, taking on the 4-0 Lincoln Wolves. Game time is 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4.
Sports, Pages 7 on 10/02/2013