The Blackhawks’ school colors of black, red and white may have had a tinge of green as Pea Ridge overcame first game jitters to prevail over the Elkins Elks with a late game touchdown to turn the tide.
After scoring first and holding the lead from the fi rst quarter, the ’Hawks fell behind late in the game when Elkins moved the ball 69 yards on 11 plays to jump ahead 24-19. The ’Hawks responded by driving 64 yards on 10 plays, culminating in a four-yard scoring run by Garrett Easterling with 4:15 left in the game. Easterling punched in the 2-point conversion to give the ’Hawks their fi nal 3-point margin of victory.
Returning only a single starter from a year ago, the ’Hawks is fielding one its most inexperienced teams ever this season. However many the mistakes of the opening contest, head coach Tony Travis was encouraged by what he saw.
“I was extremely proud,” Travis said, “that we responded well in the clutch. We got behind late on the road but we came back to retake the lead then put the game away when we had to.”
“Shane Ivy ran very well for us as did Easterling and Seth Brumley did a tremendous job for us at quarterback. The team played hard, responded well to adversity and did what had to be done to preserve the victory,” Travis added.
The more experienced Elks looked formidable from the outset, holding Pea Ridge to just 5 yards on the ’Hawks fi rst series, while driving to the ’Hawks 15-yard line in their fi rst off ensive effort. It was that defensive stand that set the path the ’Hawks would travel for the first half of the game.
With a first and 10 on the ’Hawks’ 15, the Elks couldn’t connect on a first down pass. A flood of ’Hawk defenders broke through the line to bury the Elk running back for a loss of yardage on second down, and a great pass rush on third down nearly resulted in an interception. The Elks were going for the lead on a 35-yard field goal attempt but were foiled when Hunter Lane broke through to bat down the kick.
The good fortune inspired the ’Hawks who then launched a 78-yard drive that game them the initial lead. After Dylan Mc-Clellan bulled up the middle for 4 yards, 3 yards by Ivy and another 2-yard run by Easterling gave the ’Hawks a fourth and 1 on their own 31. With faith in his line and in Brumley’s toughness in short yardage plays, the new signal call er responded to Travis’ gamble by bashing through for 3 yards to keep the drive alive.
With new life on the ’Hawk 34, Brumley hit his first pass as a ’Hawk to receiver Tristan Trundle, who rumbled out for a gain of 11 yards. Brumley then faked a pass on first down, running right for 15 yards to the Elk 40 for another first down. Ivy earned the ’Hawks fourth consecutive fi rst down play by dashing 16 yards to the Elk 24. Easterling picked up 7 yards on first down followed by runs of 8 and 7 from Ivy, with the junior scatback nearly scoring as he was brought down on the Elks 1 yard line. Brumley burst through the line on the next play for the score and a 6-0 lead with 1:15 left in the opening quarter.
The visitors good feelings took a hit on the first play when the Elks’ Aaron Kildow took a pitch from his own 33 and ran through a number of Hawk tacklers for 47 yards and a first down on the Pea Ridge 20. Elkins then moved to the 3 yard line before the drive stalled and the hosts went for a field goal. The kick was true to cut the Blackhawk advantage to 6-3 with 10:33 left in the half.
The Hawks kept their off ensive momentum going with Brumley running for 7 yards on the first down play. Ivy threatened to break it open, running for 17 yards before being brought down by his mask on the Elks 32. The 15 yard penalty on the play moved the Hawks down to the Elks 17 where two consecutive runs by Brumley gave the Hawks a 3rd and 3 on the Elks 10. Easterling very nearly sneaked into the end zone before being brought down on the 1 yard line. A 15 yard holding penalty delayed the Hawks until Easterling broke through again, this time dashing all the way to paydirt from the 16. Brumley connected with Trundle for a 2-point conversion, but a penalty erased the points, leaving the Hawks ahead 12-3 with 7 minutes left in the half.
Like they did in the fi rst quarter, the Elks responded to a Hawk score with a big play quickly, as Tristan Ice threw deep to Kildow, a play that covered 77 yards. Ice passed for the two conversion to the same receiver to draw the Elks to within one point, trailing 12-11 midway through the 2nd quarter.
Big plays were becoming common, with Ivy taking a 2nd and 5 pitch to run 29 yards, very nearly scoring before being stopped at the 9 yard line. Brumley ran for 9 yards with Ivy taking it the fi nal yard on the next play. Klein’s PAT kick was good, giving the Hawks a little breathing room with a 19-lead with 5:16 on the clock.
Pea Ridge finally shut the Elks down, forcing a punt to give Pea Ridge good field position on the Elks 41. Ivy shot past Elk defenders for 9 yards on fi rst down before Brumley hit senior Jack Rapp with a pass that netted 40 yards to the Elks 10. Two fumbles derailed the drive, however, with the Hawks turning the ball over on downs on the Elks 3 just before the half ended.
The Elks Ice came out determined after intermission, as he rushed and passed for 55 yards on six plays to the Hawk 10 yard line A holding penalty, incompletions and a near interception turned the ball back over to the Hawks on the Elks 23, however.
A first down penalty on the Hawks put them into a hole on their own 16, and a 3rd down fumble helped the Elks tighten the score back up. Ice and Kildow used the Hawks gift to alternate rushes until they were in the end zone with 4:05 left in the 3rd quarter. The PAT failed to leave the score at 19-17.
The Hawks started back with tough field position on their own 22, but a 5 yard run by Brumley and runs of 6 and 8 yards by Easterling, along with a 6 yard reception by Lane put the visitors back to near midfield. A missed pass, a collapse by the line that led to a Hawk ball carrier getting dropped behind the line of scrimmage, and a great pass that was dropped by the receiver combined to force a Hawk punt.
The Elks decided to stay on the ground, rushing eight times to move the ball to the Hawk 3. Ice took it in on 3rd down and for the first time of the game, Elkins led, with the home crowd celebrating the 24-19 margin.
After a brief time out, the team retook possession with a resolve the Elks could not stop. Pea Ridge used seven different athletes to gain the necessary yards to reclaim the lead.
Starting from their own 36, the Blackhawks took to the air with Brumley throwing a 15 yard pass to Rose, a 12 yarder to Trent Ramsey, and a 5 yard dump pass to Trundle as Pea Ridge drove into Elk territory at the 32. A penalty pushed the Hawks back 5 yards but a 9 yard carry by McClellan, followed by 13 more yards by the Hawk fullback had Pea Ridge in business on the Elk 15. Rapp then rushed 3 times for a 11 yards net for a first down on the Elk 4. Easterling took the ball in from there, running the 2-point conversion in as well to put Pea Ridge back on top, leading 27-24 with 3:55 left in the game.
Perhaps the play of the game took place after the Elks took over on the midfield stripe after a poor kick gave the home team excellent field position. The Elks offense had scored on their last two possession and looked positioned to score again and perhaps take the victory. On fi rst down, however, the Elk rusher nearly ran for another first down before an unidentified ’Hawk defender separated the ball from the ball carrier. Rose pounced on the loose pigskin to give the ’Hawks possession for the game’s fi nal minutes.
Rapp rushed twice for 9 yards, giving Pea Ridge a third and 1 from mid-field with a little over two minutes left in the game. Hoping to gain at least a yard and keep the clock running, the ’Hawks went with a quarterback sneak by Brumley and the fi eld general fought his way for the necessary yard, then fought off a host of tacklers for a few more yards, then kept his legs churning for a few more until he was finally brought down 24 yards downfield. Ivy followed with a 6-yard run with Rapp getting in a 5-yarder before time expired to seal the ’Hawks road win.
The ’Hawks victory was their sixth road win in a row, with their last loss dating back to October of 2011. They will have a chance to extend that to seven in a row as they visit Green Forest this Friday in another road contest. Green Forest lost their opener to Reeds Spring, Mo., 41-28 last week, but the Tigers are ranked higher than were the Elks.
Ivy led the attack for Pea Ridge with 91 yards on 11 carries. Brum ley had 84 yards on 13 runs, with Easterling gaining 58 on nine tries, McClellan 35 yards on fi ve totes, with Rapp getting in six runs that netted 25 yards. Brumley was six for nine in the passing offense for 89 yards. Trundle had two catches for 16 yards, Rapp one for 40 yards, with Rose, Ramsey and Lane having one catch each for 15, 12 and 6 yards, respectively. Elkins’ Ice led both teams with 148 rushing yards on 19 carries while passing for 159 yards on five of nine attempts.
Elkins just edged the ’Hawks total yardage, 389 to 382 overall.
The ’Hawks’ first home game will be with the highly regarded Greenland Pirates Friday, Sept. 20, for their first game in the new ly opened Blackhawk Stadium. Greenland opened their season with a 27-18 win over Magazine. The week following will see the ’Hawks back on the road to open conference play with the Gravette Lions.
Sports, Pages 7 on 09/11/2013