By John McGee
Special to The TIMES
The Pea Ridge Blackhawks bolted out to a 40-6 lead at the half, then cleared their bench in the second half in cruising to a 47-18 win in the opening game of the 4A-1 District schedule.
"We had a point of emphasis all week to start fast with more physical play and that they did," Coach Stephen Neal remarked, "We played better and had far less penalties than last week. We had a good week, good practices, a great day, and then a great night."
Five players scored touchdowns, with Jakota Sainsbury leading the way with three touchdown passes while racking up 162 yards on nine of 13 completions. His quarterback rating of 119 was the best of the conference last week.
Drew Winn led the ground attack, scoring two touchdowns while racking up 121 yards in just 11 carries. Robby Pickthal played more on the offensive side of the ball Friday, and was very effective in rushing 10 times for 101 yards and a touchdown. Both 'Hawk leading rushers averaged more than 10 yards per carry.
Hayden Holtgrewe had four pass receptions for 54 yards and scored twice, once via the air, and the other on a punt return. Jordan Witcher also scored a TD, catching three passes for a team best 96 yards.
One of the stars of the evening was sophomore Luis Reyes who averaged an astounding 58 yards on his kickoffs, with most of them landing in the end zone. Only once did the Pioneers start past their own 20 following a Pea Ridge score.
The Pioneers won the toss and elected to get the ball first, and it looked for a time like they might score first. Outstanding Gentry quarterback Jon Faulkenberry was facing a third and 11, and was caught dropping back to pass. The elusive field general tucked it in, and ran his way 47 yards downfield into 'Hawk territory at the 34. Two plays later, a pass to Wright got the visitors a first down on the 9, but the 'Hawk secondary played tight coverage and three straight passes fell incomplete. A fourth down field goal was off the mark and the 'Hawks took over.
Two runs by Winn netted 6 yards with Sainsbury tossing a pass to Holtgrewe for 11 yards for a first down on the 'Hawk 37. Winn then ripped off long runs of 20, 19 and 13 yards for a first down on the Gentry 11. Two more runs and Winn was in the end zone, the last one a 4-yarder with 6:50 showing on the clock. Evan Green booted the PAT for the 'Hawks' initial 7-0 lead.
The 'Hawk defense held on the next series, highlighted by a play of Gavin Warden which caused a fumble to push the guests back 11 yards. Facing a fourth down at their own 10, the Pioneers punted to the 34 where Holtgrewe gathered it on, then outmanuvered the kick coverage to the end zone. He crossed the goal line with 4:34 left in the first period, pushing the lead to 13-0.
Faulkenberry tried to rally his troops, picking up pair of first downs on 10, then 39 yard passes. The drive down to the 'Hawk 18 was blow up when Holtgrewe snatched a Pioneer pass and returned it to the 27. Sainsbury then flipped the field, threading a pass to Witcher who caught in front of two defensive backs then outran them to the goal line. The 'Hawks' third TD ballooned the lead to 19-0 with 2:39 left in the opening quarter.
The teams traded punts to open the second period, with a fine return by Holtgrewe setting the 'Hawks up first and 10 on the Gentry 33. On second down, Winn broke loose to scamper 32 yards to paydirt and give the 'Hawks an imposing lead with 7:21 left in the half. Green's accurate kick set the score at 26-0.
The 'Hawks then decided to air it out, with Sainsbury completing passes of 3, 9, 14 and 11 to Holtgrewe, Witcher and Bradley Wright for a first down on the Gentry 35. Sainsbury then gained 9 yards on a quarterback sneak before flipped a 26-yard pass to Holtgrewe for the 'Hawks' fifth touchdown. Green booted it through for a 33-0 lead with 3:55 left in the half.
The Gentry's ensuing possession, Faulkenberry showed again how he is most dangerous when forced to improvise. With the ball on their own 35, the ball came out and was rolling on the turf when Faulkenberry snatched it up and then ran it 35 yards downfield to the 'Hawk 30. Two passes later and the Pioneers finally had a score. The 'Hawks' Ryan Shepherd blocked the kick to leave the score at 33-6 with 1:37 left.
Though the clock was nearly spent, the 'Hawks weren't as a 41-yard kickoff return by Winn put the 'Hawks on the Gentry 34. Pickthal got his first carry of the evening and he ran over multiple defenders for 23 yards to the 11. Sainsbury found Peyton Galbraith open on the next play, resulting in the final score of the half with 1:16 left. Green's kick sent the Blackhawks into intermission with a 40-6 advantage.
With the big lead, coach Neal decided to change things up in the second half, exclusively playing non-starters for new looks on both defense and on offense.
"We had the opportunity of playing more individuals, as well as moving some others around to try out positions they haven't played much this year, and we got some valuable experience." Coach Neal said.
The early going was marked by turnovers by both sides, with the 'Hawks finally getting something going at the 8:38 mark of the third quarter. Last year's Northwest Arkansas' Defensive Player of the Year, Pickthal showed his offensive skills by breaking off runs of 18, 40, 3 and 3 to get Pea Ridge back into the end zone. Green's kick put the game out of reach with Pea Ridge now boasting a 47-6 lead with 6:55 left. The touchdown initiated the Mercy Rule, leading by more than 35. That meant the clock would not stop until the game was over.
With junior varsity players manning the defenses, Gentry managed to get some traction, driving in to score twice in the fourth quarter on passes from Faulkenbery to Wright. They failed to score any PATs, leaving the final score 47-18.
Pea Ridge had 25 players who recorded tackles on the defensive side of things. Gavin Warden led the way with seven tackles, with Mike Mahoney, Tristen Brewer and David Snarr each having the second most with five stops each.
The victory moved the 'Hawks' ledger to 4-0 with Gentry dropping to 2-2 for the season. The win also likely kept the Blackhawks atop the MaxPreps and Arkansas Democrat/Gazette's 4A State Poll.
Sports on 09/27/2017