PRAIRIE GROVE -- When Danny Abshier arrived as defensive coordinator at Prairie Grove in 1990, the Tigers were an afterthought in football.
Prairie Grove had not posted a winning record in six years. The year before, the Tigers snapped the state's longest losing streak with a win over Shiloh Christian in the Saints' inaugural season.
Abshier was promoted to head coach in 1993. Things haven't been the same since. He had Prairie Grove in the playoffs by his fourth season and by 1997 the Tigers were one win from playing for a state championship. Prairie Grove lost that semifinal game.
The team failed to win again in the semifinals in 2003 and again in 2012.
Despite 166 wins and a fistful of conference championship rings, the ultimate prize has eluded Abshier for his quarter-century of loyalty to what has become one of the state's best small-school programs.
He'll finally get a chance to change that this week after his Tigers beat Arkadelphia 61-42 Friday to punch their first ticket to War Memorial Stadium.
Prairie Grove will play undefeated Nashville at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the Class 4A championship game.
"This feels great," Abshier said moments after escaping a Gatorade bath on a frigid night at Tiger Stadium. "I see some people walking around here with tears in their eyes."
An impressive fourth of December fireworks show before the game indicated it was going to be a special night. Half of the town's population of 4,700 must have been in attendance, creating a sea of black and gold that spilled out of the stands and around the fence that enclosed the field.
The ones who didn't make it may find their way to Little Rock next week.
"We may have to have Farmington police come patrol the town next weekend," Prairie Grove resident Brian Walker said. "I'm not sure anyone will be left here."
Prairie Grove is known best for its Civil War battlefield and annual Clothesline Fair, but like most small towns, it finds some identity in a group of 16- to 18-year-olds who put on the school colors each Friday night in the fall. For more than two decades, Abshier's teams have enhanced an already strong sense of community pride.
All that was missing was the state championship appearance, although the school has won titles in other sports, notably girls basketball.
Abshier had heard the talk about winning for him in the week leading up to last week's game. He tried to downplay that, urging his team to focus instead on winning for themselves and their town.
Whatever the motivation, it was evident that Prairie Grove played inspired in its biggest game to date. And it played loose.
The Tigers fell behind 7-0, but scored on six straight first-half possessions to take a 43-14 halftime lead.
Prairie Grove's offense was awesome with Sam Dodd passing for 330 yards and running back Blake Faulk scoring six touchdowns. The Tigers scored at least 50 points for the sixth time this season, including for the second straight playoff game.
After losing their season opener to rival Farmington, the Tigers have won 13 straight games, a school record by the one win that had eluded the program and its longtime coach.
"Everybody in town loves him, everybody on the team loves him and he's a great guy," said Dylan Soehner, a senior tight end for the Tigers, of Abshier. "He deserves it. We wanted to do it for him."
Sports on 12/09/2015