PRAIRIE GROVE -- Isaac Disney ran like a heat-seeking missile, sucking the breath out of Pea Ridge fans as he raced past them with an interception 25 yards for a touchdown.
Disney was locked on target throughout Prairie Grove's 42-21 Homecoming victory over Pea Ridge Friday. The senior squeezed the Blackhawks' hopes thin with a number of defensive and special teams plays sure to make the 2016 highlight reel. His first interception runback broke a 14-14 tie, allowing the Tigers to capture a 21-14 halftime lead. Disney contributed a long punt return and blocked punt to help the Tigers win the battle for field position during a key stretch of the third quarter. Disney returned a second interception 48 yards for another touchdown as Prairie Grove built a 42-14 fourth quarter lead.
PRAIRIE GROVE 42, PEA RIDGE 21
Pea Ridge^7^7^0^7^—^21
Prairie Grove^14^7^14^7^—^42
First Quarter
Prairie Grove — DeMarkus Cooper 8-yard pass from Zeke Laird (Clay Fidler kick), 3:24.
Prairie Grove — Kyle Sam 15-yard run (Clay Fidler kick), :24.
Pea Ridge — Jacob Torres 92-yard kickoff return (Evan Green kick), :06.
Second Quarter
Pea Ridge — Zaine Holley 2-yard run (Evan Green kick), 9:53.
Prairie Grove — Isaac Disney 25-yard interception return (Clay Fidler kick), 1:52.
Third Quarter
Prairie Grove — Zeke Laird 10-yard run (Kick failed), 8:54.
Prairie Grove — Isaac Disney 48-yard interception return (Zeke Laird run), 7:20.
Fourth Quarter
Prairie Grove — Anthony Johnson 19-yard run (Clay Fidler kick), 5:04.
Pea Ridge — Drew Winn 47-yard run (Evan Green kick), 3:59.
"He's an electric player," said Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier. "That interception runback gave us a little breathing room."
Disney's spirited runback closed the book on an ill-fated Pea Ridge series that began when the Blackhawks' Joseph Ortiz sacked Prairie Grove quarterback Zeke Laird on fourth-and-10 after the Tigers drove to the Pea Ridge 14. The Blackhawks took over on downs at their own 21 and congratulated themselves on having survived playing most of the latter half of the second period on their end of the field. Their celebration was premature, however, and not the last of a bizarre sequence of four turnovers by both teams over a 6:14 span of the second quarter.
The drama began with Pea Ridge recovering a fumble after the Tigers had driven to the Pea Ridge 30. Prairie Grove's defense forced Pea Ridge to kick the ball away and a long Disney punt return to the Blackhawk 37 got most of the yardage back. Holtgrewe's interception just before going out-of-bounds gave the ball back to the Blackhawks, but they went backwards with 10 yards marked of for holding. Disney raced in to block a Blackhawk punt with Dustin Burton recovering at the 14 for Prairie Grove. The Tigers lost the ball on downs setting the stage for Disney's pick-six. Fidler kicked his third extra-point of the first half and the Tigers took a 21-14 lead into the locker room.
Simpson foiled an onside kick by the Blackhawks to start the second half. The Tigers churned up 51 yards of real estate on the ground to extend their lead. They avoided a turnover when a fumbled pitch rolled out-of-bounds. Zeke Laird converted third-and-one from the 17 with a quarterback sneak. The senior capped the drive with a 10-yard run. This time the extra-point kick missed, but the Tigers had some breathing room with a 27-14 score.
Tiger lightening struck the Blackhawks for a second time in the game on their next possession. Johnson and Stone made tackles to set up a third-and-six. Pea Ridge went to the air. Under pressure, Sainsbury tried to heave the football out-of-bounds. Doing a tap-dance near the sideline, Disney reached back over his head to intercept the football and ran like a guided missile. He picked up big blocks from his teammates during a 48-yard runback for his second defensive touchdown of the contest. Zeke Laird ran in a 2-point conversion stretching the Tiger advantage to 35-14 at the 7:20 mark of the third quarter.
"I was running deep with the receiver and Sainsbury had nowhere to go with the ball," Disney said. "He tried to throw it out of bounds but he didn't get enough on it. I was able to snag it, stay in bounds, and take it in for the score."
Prairie Grove added a 77-yard touchdown march in the fourth period. A trio of runs by Reed Orr netted 19 yards. Then Zeke Laird threw to Fidler for 18 yards. Johnson polished off the drive with a 19-yard dash off right tackle. Fidler added the point-after and Prairie Grove enjoyed their largest lead of 42-14 with 5:06 showing. Pea Ridge got a 47-yard touchdown run by Winn to narrow the gap to 42-21, but Prairie Grove controlled the football for the final 3:59 to claim their seventh victory of the season with no losses.
The contest began as a see-saw battle with Prairie Grove scoring the first 14 points on a Zeke Laird 8-yard touchdown toss to tight end DeMarkus Cooper and Kyle Sam's bull-dozer 15-yard run. Pea Ridge rallied to tie the game on a special-teams touchdowns by Jacob Torres (92-yard kickoff return) and Zaine Holley (2-yard run). Abshier praised his defense for keeping the Tigers in control.
"Without the defense, it could have turned the tide the other way," Abshier said. "We love the defensive side of it."
Prairie Grove travels to Gentry, 0-4 in conference play, Friday. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Sports on 10/19/2016