In a showdown of undefeateds, the Blackhawks outfought the Prairie Grove Tigers 26-21 to takeover control of the 1-4A District with three weeks left in the regular season.
In a well fought game, and the words of head coach Stephen Neal, "A huge win for the community," the 'Hawks got key defensive stops when they needed to, and big offensive plays when they had to have them.
"The game came down to probably five or six plays," Neal said. "We proved we can run the ball, and pound it if we have to. The front five on offense were great for us."
Senior Drew Winn scored three touchdowns while rushing for 185 yards to spark the victory. His fourth quarter run into the end zone from the Tiger 3-yard line on fourth down proved to be the deciding score in the very tight battle.
Pea Ridge got off to a fast start, taking the opening kickoff and driving the field in five plays to jump ahead 7-0 with less than two minutes gone in the contest.
Winn opened the game with a 9-yarder, then ripped off a 13-yarder on the next play. A penalty flag flew to erase 10 of those yards, but Jakota Sainsbury fired an 18-yard pass to Hayden Holtgrewe on the next play for a first down on the Tiger 39.
Two runs later, both by Winn, the 'Hawks assumed the lead. After a 5-yarder on first down, Winn ran straight up the middle on the next play to cover the remaining 34 yards. Evan Green's kick was true and the 'Hawks led 7-0 with 10:10 left in the opening period.
Prairie Grove demonstrated to the 'Hawk faithful that the Tigers were as good as advertised, driving 81 yards in 12 plays over a span of over five and half minutes, to tie the game at 7-7. Staying on the ground for most of it, the Tigers gambled on fourth and 1 deep in their territory. The Tigers' Anthony Johnson broke through for 32 yards to do most the damage. Then, 15- and 17-yard passes to Burden and Bryant from Elders got the ball inside the 'Hawk 20 with Burden running the final 13 yards for the score. The kick was good to knot the score.
Robby Pickthal broke off a scintillating 18-yard run to start the 'Hawks' next series, but a holding call erased the gain and pushed Pea Ridge back to their own 36. Winn ran twice for 4 and 12 yards but two incomplete passes turned the ball over to Prairie Grove on the Tiger 48.
The Tigers ran four straight times to get a first down on the 'Hawk 27, but a big defensive play by Jackson Tillman two plays later derailed the visitor hopes to take the lead. Tillman popped the ball loose which was recovered by Justin Koon on the 'Hawk 37.
Runs of 8 and 6 by Winn, sandwiched around a 5-yarder by Pickthal drove the 'Hawks to near mid-field at the end of the first quarter. Pickthal started the second period with a 6-yard run, followed by runs of 5, 2 and 4 by Winn. Facing a fourth and 4, Winn picked up a tough 5 yards to gain a new first down. He got 5 more on the next play, followed by a 2-yarder by Pickthal. Winn then dashed through the Tiger defense for 10 yards and a first down, with 5 more yards added on a Tiger facemask grab of Winn's helmet.
The 'Hawks' miseries with penalties cropped up again, with a holding call erasing a Winn run inside the 10. Two plays later saw the referees assess 15 yards against the 'Hawks when an exiting player didn't get off the field soon enough. Facing a third and 34, the 'Hawks had to throw deep and the Tigers' very savvy defensive backfield tracked it down for an interception on the Tigers 11.
The 'Hawk defenders bowed their backs and limited the Tigers to just a yard of offense for three plays, forcing a Prairie Grove punt. The short boot gave the 'Hawks good field position on the Prairie Grove 40.
Winn picked up the first 3 yards on a run with a little razzle-dazzle by the offense grabbing the lead back for the home boys on the next play. A couple of hand offs with a toss back to Sainsbury, who then lofted a pass to a streaking Jordan Witcher who gathered it in and scored standing up. The touchdown came with 4:48 left in the half to give Pea Ridge a 13-7 advantage.
The Hawk defense held on the next Tiger series with the hosts starting a new series on the home 49. A couple of short plays were negated with another penalty, giving Pea Ridge a third and 20 on their own 39. Sainsbury connected with Holtgrewe for a 29-yarder to the Tiger 32, but the defenders successfully knocked the ball loose to take over possession.
A 7-yard Tiger pass was followed by a 31-yard catch and run by Bryant who was run down on the 'Hawk 8 to stop what looked like a scoring play. Elders went back to pass with less than 8 seconds, but saw an opening for a rushing score, and tucked it in. Just a yard shy of the goal line, Elders was brought down by the 'Hawk defenders and the threat died with the clock, sending the 'Hawks into intermission with a 13-7 lead.
The Tigers received the second half kickoff, but five plays into it, their progress was halted by an interception by Gavin Warden, which gave the 'Hawks the ball near mid-field at their own 48. Winn rushed for 4 to cross mid-field, whereupon Sainsbury lofted a pass over the middle to a rambling Pickthal who ran it down to the Tiger 10 for 38 yards. Winn picked up 2 yards, then ran into the end zone on the next play for 8 yards. Winn's second TD gave the 'Hawks a 19-7 lead with 7:59 left in the third quarter.
The Tigers decided to avoid the pass, relying on 11 straight rushing plays to narrow the deficit. Johnson ran seven of the plays, with his last run of 18 yards moving the ball into the end zone. Their kick was good, restoring their 5-point shortfall with 2:59 left in the quarter.
This set the stage for perhaps the 'Hawks' longest drive of the season. an astounding 18-play drive that consumed almost nine minutes of playing time.
A Winn 12-yard sprint gave Pea Ridge an initial first down on their own 43. A holding penalty pushed the 'Hawks back to a first and 19, but a pass from Sainsbury to Witcher netted 10 yards, with a short 5-yarder to Holtgrewe picking up 5 more. Then Winn got the call on third down and the senior delivered, gaining 5 to the Tiger 46 for a first down.
Winn then got the call seven times, gaining 31 yards to Tiger 12, with Pickthal adding a 4-yard run to the mix. After a 6-yarder by Winn took the ball to the 6 for a fourth-down play, a subsequent offsides infraction by the guests moved the ball to the 3. Deciding to forego a field goal, and gamble for a touchdown, Winn got the call and ran into the Tiger line at the 2, but spun, twisted and made it into the end zone backwards, pushing the pile until he crossed the goal line with 6:03 left in the game. Green's kick gave the Blackhawk faithful a sigh of relief as the 'Hawks resumed their 12-point lead at 26-14.
With a first down on their own 30, the Tigers misfired on their first two passes, but the third was a charm. Elders hit Bryant who had gotten loose from defenders, running 70 yards to the end zone to re-tighten the game. After the PAT, the Tigers were down only 26-21 with 5:32 left.
The 'Hawks could not connect on two passes with a third short run not enough to avoid a punt, the only Blackhawk punt of the day. Starting from their own 25, Johnson picked up a first down at the 36 on two runs, then picked up another on a 17-yard run to the 'Hawk 30 with the clock approaching 2 minutes.
The three biggest defensive plays in a row served to snuff out the threat and preserve the 'Hawks' narrow lead.
The line held to stop the Tigers for no gains on their first two tries, and on third and 10, the 'Hawks swarmed to the ball carrier with Koon knocking the ball loose with Holtgrewe alertly covering it on the 'Hawk 20 with 58 seconds left. Winn then rushed for 7 yards with Pickthal gaining 6 more on the next play and the all important first down. With barely half a minute left to play, the 'Hawks took a knee and let the clock run out on one of the biggest victories on Pea Ridge soil in history.
"It was a very tough game against a very tough opponent," Neal said. "Going forward, we are going to improve the things we are good at and fix those things we need to fix. The season is a long one (counting the playoffs), but we will get better."
In addition to Winn's heroics, Sainsbury was seven of 14 in the passing attack for 141 yards and one touchdown. Holtgrewe hauled in three passes for 51 yards with Witcher catching two for 47 and a touchdown.
Defensively, sophomore Adam Trammel led the way in tackles for the first time this season with 14. Team and conference leader Tristan Brewer was right behind with 13, while Trevor Henry contributed with nine stops.
Winn's yardage and touchdowns kept him atop the district leader board in yards, touchdowns and points.
The Blackhawks turn their attention to Berryville where they will visit this Friday. The Bobcats have not won since their opening day win over 2A Decatur.
The takedown of Prairie Grove was the first loss the Tigers have ever suffered while playing in Pea Ridge. The last time that Pea Ridge whipped the Tigers was in 2014 when the Blackhawks ran the table and finished the season 10-0 for their only 1-4A conference title.
After Berryville, the Blackhawks will host Huntsville on Senior Night before traveling to Springdale Nov. 3 for a high stakes game with Shiloh. Shiloh will hope to defeat the Hawks to forge a three-way tie for the conference crown should both teams win their next two games. If the Blackhawks then win on Nov. 3, they will be home for the first part of the playoffs at least.
Pea Ridge is currently enjoying a four-game winning streak over the private school boys.
Sports on 10/18/2017