Blackhawks shock Nashville

NASHVILLE, Ark. -- The Pea Ridge Blackhawks played their best game of the season to pull off perhaps their greatest ever win as they beat down the top-ranked Nashville Scrappers 53-28 in the second round of the 4A state playoffs.

"This was a great win for our program," Stephen Neal, Blackhawk head coach, said, "and for our school and for the entire community. It is another step toward our ultimate goal."

"Our community and school came together to send our players to Nashville on very nice charter buses and the sendoff at school was phenomenal," Neal added.

The decisive victory confounded sports writers and experts statewide as the 'Hawks were heavy underdogs to the undefeated, top-ranked Scrappers who were riding a 26-game winning streak. The loss was the first one for second year coach Mike Volarvich.

The 'Hawks had heroes in abundance as outstanding individual play on both offense and defense kept the Scrappers' legendary offense in check while piling up more than 500 yards of offense. Pea Ridge had great balance with 264 yards on the ground with another 246 yards through the air. Workhorse Zaine Holley had 183 yards and two touchdowns with junior speedster Drew Winn adding 110 yards, scoring three touchdowns in the process.

Junior quarterback Jakota Sainsbury had a career night, having a season best 246 yards on seven of nine passing, Hayden Holtgrewe caught two passes for 62 yards, with one touchdown, with Ryan Higgins snaring two offerings that netted him 131 yards and a touchdown.

The 'Hawks served notice early on that the Scrappers weren't going to have the blowout victory that many expected. Junior Robby Pickthal hung a 11-yard loss on Nashville on the game's second play which was followed up with a 9-yard loss on another Scrapper back. Their inability to overcome negative yardage led to a punt on their first series.

The Blackhawks utilized strong running by Holley and a 13-yard sneak by Sainsbury to get down deep into Nashville territory. A fourth down pass was just barely out of reach for the 'Hawk receiver but Pea Ridge proved that the pundits were as wrong about the game's predictions as major media outlets were in the recent election.

Vaunted running back Darius Hopkins showed why he is sought by a number of Division 1 colleges as he picked up the team's first first down. Two incompletions later and a stuffed Hopkins run at the line of scrimmage led to their second consecutive punt, and a good runback by Holtgrewe gave the 'Hawks great field position on their own 45.

With Holley bashing the Scrapper line five times for 34 yards and Winn racking up runs of 11 and 12, Pea Ridge was soon sitting on the Nashville 15-yard line. Facing a third and 5, Sainsbury pulled off a tremendous fake handoff to Winn, then wheeled around and sprinted into the end zone for the game's first score. The play was the first one of the second quarter and with 11:55 left in the first half, Pea Ridge assumed a 6-0 lead.

The fired up 'Hawk defense stopped Nashville cold on their next possession, with Jacob Torres leading the charge to push them back to face a fourth and 14 necessitating the Scrappers bring in their punter. Winn crossed up that move by bolting in to block the punt and giving the Hawks a first down on the Nashville 21.

Holley ran twice to gain a first down on the Scrapper 11 where Winn ran right to outrun the defense to the end zone. The score doubled the 'Hawk lead to 12-0 with 9:29 left in the half.

Hopkins finally got off one of his patented long runs, partially using a referee as a screen to finally take the hosts into 'Hawk territory near the mid-point of the second quarter on a 38-yard gainer. A pass to Spencer picked up 18 yards and Hopkins ran it in from 13 yards out on the next play to shrink the 'Hawk advantage. The kick was good to draw Nashville to within 5, trailing 12-7 with seven minutes left.

The Scrappers surprised the 'Hawks with an onside kick, with a low bullet kick bouncing off up man Justin Koon. To the Scrappers' chagrin, Koon ran the ball down among a host of defenders to get the 'Hawks possession on the Nashville 39.

A holding call against the 'Hawks slowed the attack and, though Holley made up 11 yards of the penalty, Pea Ridge was looking at a fourth and 10 from the 39. Pea Ridge then showed the hosts that they could pull a surprise of their own when the snap to the punter went instead to Carson Rhine who sprinted downfield to gain a first down at the Scrapper 27. Holley ran for 5 with Winn running twice more for 12 yards to the Nashville 10. On a third and 5 call, Holley burst through the middle and barrelled into the end zone. Evan Green's accurate kick regained the 'Hawks' 12-point lead as they enjoyed a 19-7 lead with 3:50 left in the half.

The fireworks were only starting as Hopkins exploded through the line on the first play after the kickoff as he quickly covered 78 yards to score his second touchdown. Their kicker was good again, shrinking the lead to 19-14 with 3:30 left.

Starting from their own 20 after the kickoff, Holley got things rolling with a 5-yard run with Holtgrewe taking the 'Hawks into Scrapper territory after catching a pass from Sainsbury to pick up 26 yards to the 49. A short run by Holley was a prelude to Winn breaking loose to leave defenders in the dust as he dashed 47 yards to the end zone. With less than 2 minutes remaining, Green kicked the PAT and the 'Hawks led 26-14.

It was the 'Hawks' defense that stepped it up again, with Hopkins getting stripped of the ball after a short gain to give Pea Ridge excellent field position at their own 48. The 'Hawks took to the air on the next play with Sansbury threading the needle to Britton Caudle for a 17-yard gainer to the Nashville 35. Two plays later, Sainsbury dropped a pass into Winn's hands as he gained 33 yards to the Nashville 1-yard line. Holley punched it in from there with 35 seconds left to give the 'Hawks an astounding 32-14 halftime advantage.

When the 'Hawks took the second half kickoff, it appeared that they would score yet another touchdown with Holtgrewe catching a pass inside the Scrapper 5-yard line and running it into the end zone. However, a Scrapper player knocked the ball loose after he crossed the goal line and the pass was ruled incomplete. The call was one of many that would go against the 'Hawks, but the extra help would not change the game's final disposition.

After another peculiar call negating a 'Hawk first down, the Scrappers took over on their own 26. Nashville proved a team that could stage a comeback as they launched a seven-play scoring drive featuring six runs by Hopkins. Hopkins ran for his third score from 11 yards out. With eight minutes left in the third period, Nashville's good PAT kick brought the hosts closer at 32-21.

More adversity would face the 'Hawks when the Scrappers finally got off an excellent onside kick that they would cover on the Pea Ridge 42. Hard running by Hopkins took Nashville to the 'Hawks' 17, but a clod was thrown into their churn when Caudle dropped the Scrapper quarterback for an 8-yard loss back to the 25. Two plays later and a fourth down pass fell harmlessly to the turf and the 'Hawks resumed possession.

Pea Ridge flipped the field when Holley broke out of a crowd to ramble 62 yards to the Scrapper 28. Holley gained 5 yards on two carries but the 'Hawks scored when Holtgrewe ran under a Sainsbury pass and took it down to score with 2:31 left in the third period. Green's kick widened the gulf between the schools with the 'Hawks ahead 39-21.

With the clock running down and a bit of desperation settling into the home crowd, the Scrappers put together a lightning drive that put Hopkins back into the end zone as the hosts refused to go away, trailing by 11, 39-28.

Another onside kick was foiled by the 'Hawks, thus giving them good field position at the 'Hawk 48. Holley softened up the defense with a 4-yarder, then Sainsbury surprised the defense by lofting a deep pass to Higgins which resulted in a 39-yard gain to the Scrapper 7. Two runs by Winn was all that was needed to score the Hawks' seventh touchdown. Green's good kick put the Scrappers back into an 18-point hole.

The defense would step up to really ice the game. With a little over 10 minutes left in the game, the 'Hawk defenders would allow the Scrappers no big plays, forcing them to grind down the field, eating the clock as they went. Tackles for losses by Seth Trammel and Pickthal went a long way to bog Nashville down with the 'Hawks taking over on their own 11-yard line.

Short gains left Pea Ridge with a third and 8 when a penalty call pushed them back to a third and 13 from their own 8. Fully expecting some kind of run, offensive coordinator sent Higgins deep and the quick footed receiver caught the ball and outran Nashville defensive backs all the way into the end zone to score standing up. What little hope Nashville fans may have had, the score and successful PAT by Green with less than 4 minutes left added up to an insurmountable 53-28 deficit. Surprisingly, Scrapper fans began to head for the exits in massive numbers.

Three plays later, Winn snared a desperation pass to effectively end any chance for additional scoring and the 'Hawks ended the game in victory formations.

The upset win earned the 'Hawks a quarterfinal berth at home entertaining the Hamburg Lions. Hamburg took down fellow Benton County team Gravette 42-10 in Hamburg to earn their spot among the elite eight teams.

Three of the eight finalists are from the 4A-1 district with Prairie Grove smashing Central Arkansas Christian 61-13 while Shiloh was besting Heber Springs on the road 42-7. The 4A-8 has two teams left with the other three teams being the sole survivors from their respective leagues. The 4A-2 district lost all their representatives.

Prairie Grove will now host Gosnell Friday with Shiloh traveling to Dardanelle for their game. The winners of Shiloh/Dardanelle will take on the winner of Pea Ridge/Hamburg. The other quarter-final game will see undefeated Warren host once beaten Robinson.