PRAIRIE GROVE -- Rebounding from the sting of their first loss of the season at Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove built a 32-0 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The Tigers coasted to another conference win by beating Gentry, 32-7, Friday. Anthony Johnson ran for 141 yards and two touchdowns and Colin Bryant caught two touchdown passes. Prairie Grove led 19-0 at halftime on touchdown runs of 35 and 10 yards by Johnson and a 46-yard pass play from John David Elder to Colin Bryant.
Prairie Grove 32, Gentry 7
Gentry^0^0^0^7^—^7
Prairie Grove^7^12^13^0^—^32
First Quarter
Prairie Grove — Anthony Johnson 35-yard run (Ben Beason kick), 5:53
Second Quarter
Prairie Grove — Anthony Johnson 10-yard run (kick failed), 11:54
Prairie Grove — Colin Bryant 46-yard pass from J.D. Elder (kicked failed), 2:12
Third Quarter
Prairie Grove — Aaron Preston 11-yard run (run failed), 8:11
Prairie Grove — Colin Bryant 64-yard pass from J.D. Elder (Ben Beason kick), 1:31
Fourth Quarter
Gentry — Jon Faulkenberry 2-yard run (Matthews kick), 9:12
Aaron Preston contributed an 11-yard touchdown run and Colin Bryant added a 64-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter as the Tigers expanded their lead to 32-0. The Tigers (7-1, 4-1) lost 26-21 at Pea Ridge Oct. 13 to end a 25-game winning streak in regular season play dating back to 2015.
"That one hurt deeply at Pea Ridge, practice wasn't the most enthusiastic," said Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier. "But you can't stay down too long."
The Tigers could have folded early after recovering a Gentry fumble at the Pioneer 12, then losing the ball on their first play. The Pioneers led by shifty quarterback Jon Faulkenberry, who completed 22 of 28 passes for 112 yards, dominated time of possession in the first quarter before turning the ball over on downs.
"We fumble it on our first series, give it right back to them," Abshier said. "We kept them out of the end zone but they sure covered turf. They did that all night. It took a little while to get it shut down."
Ethan Guenther sacked Faulkenberry for an 11-yard loss on fourth down. On the next play Johnson broke a touchdown run of 35 yards. Ben Beason's kick gave Prairie Grove a 7-0 lead. Gentry then ran off eight plays before DeMarkus Cooper recovered a Pioneer fumble. That began a 9-play, 61-yard drive culminated by Johnson's 1-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter.
The Tigers were able to play a lot of reserves in the contest utilizing various ball-carriers and targeting different receivers. The Tigers outgained Gentry 379 to 239 in total offense. Prairie Grove had 254 rushing yards to 126 for the Pioneers. Colin Bryant added 10 rushes for 73 yards. Dustin Burton had three carries for 21 yards. Elder was just 4 of 10 on his passing attempts, but Abshier noted two potential touchdown passes were dropped in the end zone. The veteran Prairie Grove coach was pleased with an opportunity to get more players experience handling the football.
"We are always wanting to develop them," Abshier said. "We like running the ball. We like play-action. We try to be as multiple as we can be. We try to get everybody involved, get all of our backs running it, all of our receivers catching it."
In the fourth quarter, Gentry (4-4, 2-3) avoided the shutout when Faulkenberry scored on a 2-yard run. This week Prairie Grove goes on the road to Berryville. The Bobcats are winless so far in conference play. Prairie Grove will conclude regular season play at home against Lincoln in two weeks. Meanwhile, Pea Ridge will face Shiloh Christian in week 10, a matchup that could result in a three-way tie for first place in the 4A-1 should the Saints win.
Sports on 10/25/2017