PRAIRIE GROVE -- Green Forest, the newest member of the 4A-1 Conference, found the going tough at Prairie Grove which handed the visitors a 63-0 setback in their first league game Friday.
"You kind of feel sorry for Green Forest. That's a program over there, they are struggling right now," said Prairie Grove defensive coordinator Craig Laird. "We played our JV in the second quarter. All of our subs were playing. Conditions weren't good, but we played everybody. We scored twice on special teams and on defense."
Prairie Grove (2-2, 1-0 4A-1) led 28-0 after the first quarter and 56-0 at halftime, but the black and gold Tigers weren't trying to run up the score. Neither did they stop playing. James Millwood's sack put Green Forest in fourth-and-22 setting up a punt from its own eight on the game's opening possession.
Prairie Grove took over at the Green Forest 30. Two carries by senior fullback Garrett Heltemes covered the distance with the score on an 18-yard run. Cade Walker likely set a school record for a half by kicking the first of seven extra-points he made and with the game less than two minutes old the hometown Tigers held a 7-0 lead over the visiting Tigers.
Prairie Grove marched 85 yards in eight plays to score again on its second drive with Jared Harger busting a 52-yard jaunt to the house.
Senior Ethan Guenther (5-11, 224) looked good when he did throw in a pouring rain making his second start at quarterback for Prairie Grove. Ethan Guenther began the season as backup quarterback to Ethan Scates while starting at tight end. Ethan Guenther completed a pass to Kaine Caswell. for 14 yards on second-and-10 to initiate that drive.
Graham Guenther scored on defense when he scooped up Hayden Black's blocked punt and ran eight yards for Prairie Grove's third touchdown.
"Incidentally, he wasn't even supposed to be on the field," Laird said. "The kid never came in for him so he stayed on the field and went in and blocked the kick."
Green Forest then picked up two first downs, one by penalty, and held the ball 4:04 before punting again. Special teams once more proved troublesome for Green Forest as Prairie Grove junior Keiandre Hobbs ran the punt back 60 yards for a touchdown to make the score 28-0 at the close of the first quarter.
Prairie Grove distributed the football with several backs getting carries. Cordelle Whetsell ran a wingback reverse 10 yards, then Lane Dalton was off to the races with a 68-yard touchdown romp bringing the margin to 35-0 and activating a running clock for the second half.
Green Forest senior Jordan Zepeda intercepted a pass to account for the only defensive stop by the visitors throughout the first half and made a 45-yard return to the Prairie Grove 35. Two plays later another sack by Millwood caused a fumble with Heltemes picking up the football and running 57 yards for a touchdown.
"That was a big hit for James, he knocked the ball loose and Heltemes took it in for a touchdown," Laird said.
By this time Prairie Grove emptied its bench. Ethan Beason returned the next punt and Foster Layman got the next carry. Layman got free for a 76-yard touchdown run and the rout was on as the downpour soaked the field. The snap went awry and a desperation run failed to convert the extra-point leaving Prairie Grove with a 48-0 lead with 2:48 remaining in the first half.
Green Forest fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Marshall Montgomery recovered for Prairie Grove setting up a 4-play, 30-yard drive capped by Beason's 17-yard touchdown rush. Another snap on the extra-point was mishandled, but this time Ethan Guenther ran the ball in for two points and Prairie Grove was living large with a 56-0 halftime lead.
Green Forest missed a field goal early in the fourth quarter that could have erased the goose egg. The visitors were limited to 75 yards of total offense and converted only 1-of-11 third downs. Prairie Grove racked up 416 yards of total offense with all but the lone completion of 14 yards by Guenther to Caswell coming on the ground.
This week Prairie Grove travels to winless Gravette (0-4, 0-1 4A-1), which lost 19-7 at Lincoln Friday.
PRAIRIE GROVE 63, GREEN FOREST 0
Green Forest^0^0^0^0^--^0
Prairie Grove^28^28^7^0--^63
First Quarter
Prairie Gove -- Garrett Heltmes 18-yard run (Cade Walker kick), 10:09.
Prairie Gove -- Jared Harger 52-yard run (Cade Walker kick), 5:36.
Prairie Gove -- Graham Guenther 8-yard blocked punt return (Cade Walker kick), 4:42.
Prairie Gove -- Keiandre Hobbs 60-yard punt return (Cade Walker kick), 4:42.
Second Quarter
Prairie Gove -- Lane Dalton 68-yard run (Cade Walker kick), 10:17.
Prairie Gove -- Garrett Heltmes 57-yard fumble return (Cade Walker kick), 5:35.
Prairie Gove -- Foster Layman 76-yard run (run failed), 2:48.
Prairie Grove -- Ethan Beason 17-yard run (Ethan Guenther run), 0:50.
Third Quarter
Prairie Gove -- Cade Walker 37-yard run (Cade Walker kick), 8:00.
Sports on 09/26/2018