PRAIRIE GROVE -- Last season brewed in the perfect storm for Lincoln, motivated to end a 19-game losing streak against Prairie Grove.
Both teams were thinking playoff seeding coming into the Nov. 2, 2018, regular season finale won by Lincoln, 59-48, in a thrilling game for spectators watching the neighboring schools combine for more than 1,100 yards of total offense.
This season playoff participation was on the line with Lincoln facing a must-win scenario while also needing help from Gravette to beat Gentry. The Wolves, according to Fearless Friday, were also seeking to become the first players in school history to achieve back-to-back winning seasons in football.
Meanwhile, Prairie Grove had no desire to allow the Wolves to establish a two-game winning streak in the series, something which hasn't happened since the 1980s when Lincoln won four straight from 1985-1988.
The Friday, Nov. 8, 2019, contest at Prairie Grove's Tiger Den Stadium won by Prairie Grove, 34-14, represented the 60th game in the all-time series, and sadly, maybe the last for the foreseeable future with Lincoln dropping in classification to 3A football for 2020.
For half (30) of those rivalry contests, it has been the last game of the regular season for both teams: 1976-1990, 1993-2001, and 2014-2019. Prairie Grove holds a 22-8 edge when game is last game of the year.
According to Lynn Gregson, "Voice of the Tigers," play-by-play announcer for PG Telco webcasts of Prairie Grove football games, the series has been played from 1955-2019 every year except 1965, 2008-2011. Gregson found the game was played as 6-man football from 1955-1959, 8-man football from 1960-1964, with no game in 1965, and from 1966-present as 11-man football.
Gregson's research shows that while Lincoln won the first 8 games of the series, Prairie Grove leads all-time series 43-17 with a 25-2 winning advantage since 1989. Prior to that, the series was fairly evenly-matched with Prairie Grove leading 17-15. He also discovered that only twice in the last decade has Lincoln came into the game with a better record than Prairie Grove. In 2013, Lincoln came in 5-0, while Prairie Grove was 4-1. Prairie Grove won at home, 40-17. In 2018, Lincoln came in 8-2, while Prairie Grove was 5-4. Lincoln won at Wolfpack Stadium, 59-48.
Additional facts compiled by Gregson reveal that in 60 years Prairie Grove has shut out Lincoln 16 times, the last in 2003. Lincoln shut out Prairie Grove six times, the last in 1994 (14-0); and Prairie Grove shut out Lincoln four straight times from 2000-2003. Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier has a series record from 1993 of 21 wins and 2 losses, while Lincoln coach Don Harrison has a series record since 2014 of one win and four losses.
Sports on 11/13/2019