PRAIRIE GROVE -- West Fork saw the best and worst of Prairie Grove special teams during a 50-0 loss handed out by Prairie Grove in week three.
Eight different players scored for Prairie Grove including Isaac Disney (75 yards) and Gavin Heltemes (43 yards) on punt returns for touchdowns. Disney's runback was spectacular. West Fork punted from their 44 and Disney caught the ball going towards the goal line Prairie Grove was defending near the 28. Momentum carried him to the 25 before he got turned around. He ran between two West Fork guys, then took off to his left avoiding a referee and absorbing a hit as he crossed the West Fork 45. Three steps later he fully regained his balance racing down the left hashmark for an electrifying touchdown.
Blake Faulk kicked the extra-point to give Prairie Grove a 25-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and Matthew Gauldin kicked a point-after to punctuate Heltemes' 43-yard punt return giving Prairie Grove a 38-0 lead with 3:14 left in the first half. The return was set up by defensive plays by Cole Walker and Dakota Walker, who combined to squash West Fork runs for 7 yards in losses. After an incomplete pass, West Fork punted on fourth and 17 from their 13. Heltemes fielded a low kick off a bounce while running at full speed. Accelerating, he reached the 20 before a single black jersey appeared, then ran right past three West Fork Tigers to reach the end zone.
Prairie Grove's kickoff coverage limited Brayden Burnett to a 13-yard return as the second half began. Then, Solomon Walker, Dawson West and DeMarkus Cooper sent West Fork's offense in reverse to start the third quarter. A bad snap on fourth and 18 aborted a West Fork punt and the Prairie Grove Tigers were all over the miscue, with Coty Hoskins bringing down Taylor Poplin for a turnover on downs at West Fork's seven.
On the next play, Kyle Sam cashed in on the turnover crashing into the end zone for a touchdown. Prairie Grove could not kick the point-after adding to four earlier missed kicks on touchdowns by Dylan Soehner (36-yard pass from Sam Dodd), Blake Faulk (24-yard run), Cooper (18-yard pass from Dodd) and Reed Orr (2-yard). In the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Zeke Laird ran in a keeper by stiff-arming a defender as he hit the right pylon for a 2-yard touchdown. Zeke, son of Prairie Grove defensive coordinator Craig Laird, is tuned into the coaches and sensing frustration over the missed P.A.T. kicks approached head coach Danny Abshier suggesting a different strategy.
"We can't buy a P.A.T. so Zeke Laird said, 'Coach, I think I can drop-kick one.' The kick barely missed but it was a lot closer than any of our other kicks except the two that made it," Abshier said. "We may have to start doing that cause I think we're better at that, drop-kicking it over."
Zeke drop-kicked an extra-point in a junior varsity game and Abshier said Prairie Grove may also go for 2-point conversions. The Tigers were successful on 3 of 4 tries against Charleston in a week two 30-12 victory. While he was unsatisfied with kicking extra-points, Abshier praised the punt returners.
"You draw up a plan and hope it works. If it works just like you drew it up then it's a touchdown every time," Abshier said. "If everybody does their job every time ideally it scores but not everybody does their job every time. If you have somebody like Disney, who makes you miss the play works better when you have an athlete like that and Disney is one of them."
Sports on 10/07/2015