Blackhawks, Rain, Damper Homecoming

PEA RIDGE STAVES OFF PRAIRIE GROVE 38-29

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Prairie Grove senior quarterback Ethan Guenther drops back to pass in the first quarter against Pea Ridge. The Tigers sustained a 38-29 Homecoming loss Friday, Oct. 12, 2018, to drop to 2-2 in league play.
MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Prairie Grove senior quarterback Ethan Guenther drops back to pass in the first quarter against Pea Ridge. The Tigers sustained a 38-29 Homecoming loss Friday, Oct. 12, 2018, to drop to 2-2 in league play.

PRAIRIE GROVE -- Fourth quarter statistics were telling, Prairie Grove rushed 9 times for 3 yards while Pea Ridge ran 14 times for 72 yards in Friday's 38-29 Tiger Homecoming loss.

Pea Ridge couldn't put away the resilient Tigers, who fought an uphill battle after falling behind, 8-0, in the first minute of the game, until the Blackhawks successfully aimed a punt for the corner, which rolled out at the Tiger two. After picking up one first down, Prairie Grove attempted to punt but never got the kick off when the snap went awry.

Pea Ridge took over at the Tiger 13 and Carson Rhine (22 rushes, 139 yards, 3 touchdowns), who stepped into the starting quarterback role for a contest played in wet, rainy conditions, got free for a touchdown run on the next play. The score put Pea Ridge up by nine with 5:59 left in the game.

"It was a well-played ball game and we didn't put it together enough," said Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier. "I don't think we made them punt (except for the game-changing punt). We punted a couple of times more than they did. The snap on the punt, my thought is, we shouldn't have been punting anyway. We should have made the first down."

The fourth began with Pea Ridge leading, 32-29, by virtue of Luis Reyes' 21-yard field goal that broke a 22-22 third quarter tie. Samuel Beard (20 carries, 189 yards) set up the go-ahead kick by breaking a 58-yard run inside the five. Garrett Heltemes, Graham Guenther, and Couper Allen then stopped Pea Ridge quarterback Carson Rhine on three straight runs so Pea Ridge brought out the field goal unit and Reyes delivered. He missed a 27-yard attempt in the first period when Prairie Grove made a goal line stand.

Rhine broke tackles and sprinted 35 yards to the Tiger 11, but on first down junior defensive tackle Austin Medina stuffed Beard for no gain. Heltemes, who played a valuable role on defense, hammered Rhine four yards behind the line of scrimmage on third down; and brought down Beard after a 5-yard run on third down.

"We did some good things tonight," Abshier said. "Cade Grant (9 carries, 114 yards), that dude ran the ball really well and he scored a couple of touchdowns on some long runs. We showed physicalness cause Pea Ridge is very physical. I don't like the loss, but I think we showed some grit and we didn't shut down."

Grant, a sophomore halfback, broke touchdown runs of 26 and 52 yards in the third, the second of which drew the Tigers within, 32-29.

"I thought we started to wear them down there for a little bit, and all of a sudden they hit a second wind," Abshier said. "We just didn't have enough."

Pea Ridge answered by driving to the Tiger 33 before getting the door slammed shut. The game turned on Reyes' well-placed punt.

Late in the fourth, Pea Ridge threatened to score but the Tigers kept them out of the end zone. Senior cornerback Cordelle Whetsell did his best to leave a lasting impression on the Pea Ridge signal caller by belting Rhine, who turned to stay in-bounds and took a shot at the end of a 16-yard run. The Blackhawks reached the Tiger six, but came away empty when Whetsell intercepted Rhine's pass in the final seconds. Had Whetsell got outside, he could have potentially run the length of the field.

In the post game talk, Abshier fresh off the heat of battle told Pea Ridge coach Stephen Neal, "You should have took a knee right there."

Neal explained the Blackhawks were playing for playoff contention needing to win by 13 to pick up points in the event of a tie in regular season standings. Abshier understood, but was glad his defense turned in one final goal line stand, the third time the Tigers stopped Pea Ridge inside the 20 and twice inside the five.

"So I don't feel bad about him trying to score right there, but I sure wish we would have picked six on them for trying to poke it in there," Abshier said. "That's the thing about it, if you just keep your head in and keep saying the next play is the most important play, forget that last one; then no telling what happens. It just didn't happen for us tonight."

This week the Tigers visit Gentry (2-5, 2-2 4A-1), a 35-0 loser to Shiloh Christian last week.

With the loss Prairie Grove drops to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play; while Pea Ridge improves to 5-2, 4-0 4A-1.

PEA RIDGE 38, PRAIRIE GROVE 29

Pea Ridge^8^14^10^6^--^38

Prairie Grove^0^14^15^0^--^29

First Quarter

Pea Ridge -- Carson Rhine 2-yard run (Carson Rhine run), 11:07.

Second Quarter

Prairie Grove -- Garrett Heltemes 9-yard run (Cade Walker kick), 10:36.

Pea Ridge -- Trevor Blair 53-yard pass from Carson Rhine (Luis Reyes kick), 6:26.

Pea Ridge -- Samuel Beard 34-yard run (Luis Reyes kick), 3:30.

Prairie Grove -- Graham Guenther 17-yard pass from Ethan Guenther (Cade Walker kick), 0:17.

Third Quarter

Prairie Grove -- Cade Grant 26-yard run (Garrett Heltemes run), 9:52.

Pea Ridge -- Luis Reyes 21-yard field goal, 6:35.

Pea Ridge -- Carson Rhine 45-yard run (Luis Reyes kick), 4:24.

Prairie Grove -- Cade Grant 52-yard run (Cade Walker kick), 1:21.

Fourth Quarter

Pea Ridge -- Carson Rhine 13-yard run (Luis Reyes kick), 5:59.

TEAM STATISTICS

Pea Ridge^Prairie Grove

First downs^15^20

Total offense^388^320

Rushes-yards^42-328^42-285

Passing yards^60^35

Rush average^7.8^6.8

Comp-Att-TD^Int^2-3-1-1^3-11-1-0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Pea Ridge, Samuel Beard 20-189, Carson Rhine 22-139. Prairie Grove, Cade Grant 9-114, James Millwood 5-92, Garrett Heltemes 19-78, Lane Dalton 3-11, Ethan Guenther 6- (-10).

PASSING -- Pea Ridge, Carson Rhine 2-3-60-1-1. Prairie Grove, Ethan Guenther 3-11-35-1-0.

RECEIVING -- Pea Ridge, Trevor Blair 2-60. Prairie Grove, Graham Guenther 2-16, James Millwood 1-19.

Sports on 10/17/2018