PRAIRIE GROVE -- Prairie Grove (9-1, 6-1) earned a share of the 4A-1 Conference title by virtue of its 56-25 drubbing of Lincoln and Shiloh Christian's 17-14 upset of Pea Ridge Friday.
The Tigers have either won or shared the last three conference crowns and won four of the last six outright.
"We knew coming in that if we won tonight and Shiloh Christian beat Pea Ridge (9-1, 6-1) that would give us a share of the crown," said Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier. "Too bad we had to rely on somebody else."
Prairie Grove takes the No. 2 seed from the 4A-1 into the state playoffs and will play host to Pottsville. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Friday at Tiger Den Stadium.
"The regular season was a great season," Abshier said. "It's been a lot of fun. We just didn't get it done at Pea Ridge."
Abshier was referring to a week seven, 26-21, loss at Pea Ridge that kept the Tigers from winning the conference title outright. Pea Ridge remained unbeaten until Friday when Shiloh Christian knocked them off with a field goal. Pea Ridge gets the No. 1 seed with Gravette No. 3, Shiloh No. 4 and Gentry No. 5. Had Lincoln beat Gentry in week nine, they would be going to the playoffs.
Coming into Friday, Prairie Grove was locked into the No. 2 seed while Lincoln was out of the playoff picture. From the opening kickoff the Tigers made certain there was no letdown against the Wolves on senior night. Lincoln tried an onside kick to start the game, but Ethan Guenther recovered for the Tigers. Nine plays later Anthony Johnson scored the first of his three rushing touchdowns to put the Tigers ahead.
On the first play after Lincoln turned the ball over on downs, Elder threw to tight end DeMarkus Cooper for a 31-yard touchdown. Ben Beason booted the second of 8 successful extra-point kicks and Prairie Grove led 14-0 with 5:21 left in the first period.
"We've been struggling with extra-points so it's nice that Ben made all eight kicks tonight," Abshier said, praising his kicker, who has been playing with an injury. "He has a torn tendon in his finger on his left hand. He's been playing offense (guard) and defense (linebacker) both for us. He rolled his jersey on a tackle and tore a tendon. He's got stitches all over his hand."
Lincoln recovered an onside kick and capitalized on a short field. The Wolves drove 50 yards in 14 plays aided by a roughing-the-kicker penalty against Prairie Grove on a missed field goal attempt. Caleb Lloyd ran the ball in from 8 yards out and Paul Frogg kicked the extra-point to narrow Prairie Grove's lead to 14-7 with 1:59 left in the first quarter.
Prairie Grove scored almost at will. Johnson added a 4-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds left in the first quarter, then got another 48 seconds later. The Tigers deflected Lloyd's pass on a fake punt and took over on downs. Johnson scored easily as he broke free on a 27-yard pass from Elder.
With 4:33 to go in the half, Aaron Preston's 15-yard run gave Prairie Grove a 35-7 advantage. The Tigers forced a three-and-out, then drove to Lincoln's 15. Cordelle Whetsell intercepted a Tiger pass and returned the ball 85 yards for a touchdown. Prairie Grove led 42-19 at the half following a 6-play, 65-yard drive capped by Jared Harger's 1-yard run.
Lincoln began the third quarter with an 81-yard drive. Lloyd's pass to Hunter Phelan covered the final 38 yards and cut the Tiger lead to 42-19. Prairie Grove answered immediately. Two plays later Colin Bryant took a wingback reverse 56 yards for a touchdown and the remainder of the game was played with a running clock. Phelan returned a fumble recovery 37 yards for the Wolves' final touchdown.
General News on 11/08/2017