PRAIRIE GROVE -- Prairie Grove (10-1) broke away from a see-saw battle with 28 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to ring up a 59-34 playoff win over Blytheville (5-5) Friday at Tiger Den Stadium.
In the fourth Prairie Grove held Chickasaw signal-caller Jeremiah Northern to 19 yards passing despite the fact he completed 6-of-8 passes in the period. The Tigers knocked him out of the game when he converted fourth-and-one on a quarterback sneak with 2:39 left. Defensive pressure on the passer factored heavily into determining the outcome down the stretch.
"As the game wore on, I don't know if their offensive line got tired, but our press just got better and better and better," said Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier. "That's a big part of their game is that quarterback rush and Coach [Craig] Laird had a scheme, our guys stopped that."
Northern finished with 44 yards on 18 carries, but was most effective through the air, completing 20-of-32 passes for 284 yards and 4 touchdowns with an interception.
There were seven lead changes. The Tigers trailed 34-31 late in the third quarter after Blytheville outscored them 13-7 in the period. The Chickasaws forced a turnover on downs to stop the Tigers' first possession of the second half. Prairie Grove went 0-for-6 on third down, but converted 3-of-4 fourth down tries.
Prairie Grove took the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 4-yard run from Foster Layman to move in front 38-34. They would lead for the duration with both the offense and defense playing solid.
Abshier and the Tiger staff made some adjustments at halftime and the offense played lights out beyond the first drive of the third quarter.
"It got better after the half it seemed like. We could make yards," Abshier said. "I think [Cade] Grant, my goodness, Grant ran the ball so stinking tough. He just fires everybody up with some of those big runs of his and look at Foster just digging in, Landon [Semrad], we've got a few weapons, a one-two-three punch kind of thing and we could throw it well, too; and then Knox [Laird], all of a sudden, Knox runs a couple. I think when we spread it out a little more we hit them where they weren't."
Grant carried 19 times for 150 yards while Layman added 121 yards on 14 runs and Knox Laird chipped in 33 yards rushing on 7 rushes. He completed 7-of-17 passes for 121 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception.
On the next Blytheville drive Kaige Adams recovered a fumble to get the key stop Prairie Grove needed. The Tigers drove 52 yards in six plays capped by Semrad's 11-yard wingback reverse extending the lead to 45-34.
Blytheville proved to be a quality opponent in spite of their 2-2 conference record.
"They beat the No. 2 team in their conference even though they're a five seed," Abshier said. "They got beat by 20 by the winner of their conference. They played teams odd this year because of covid. They played without people and they played with people and so very quality bunch, lots of athletes, they do things well, big ol' kids, coached well."
The defense then did a number holding the Chickasaws to minus one yard despite consecutive pass completions. Jackson Sorters sniffed out a screen and dropped the back for a 2-yard loss. Adams and David Hall combined for a sack putting Blytheville in fourth-and-15. Desperation set in and the Chickasaws went for it from their own 18, but turned the ball over on downs with an incomplete pass with heat on the quarterback.
Four plays later Knox Laird scored on a 10-yard quarterback keeper around right end stretching the lead to 52-34.
The Tigers capped the scoring on an 85-yard interception return by Paytin Higgins in the final minute.
Blytheville scored 1:30 into the game after beginning a drive at midfield. Northern ran the ball in for a touchdown from a yard out, but the kick hooked left leaving the Chickasaws with a 6-0 lead.
Prairie Grove wasn't able to answer although they did hold the ball for 5:26 and drove into Blytheville territory before losing the ball on downs. Blytheville picked up one first down. The teams then exchanged punts. The Tigers got a big rush on Northern, who threw the ball while going down. Knox Laird's interception restored possession to Prairie Grove.
Early passing attempts targeting Landon Semrad were unsuccessful with a lot of attention focused on the Tiger wide-out, so the strategy shifted to a deep route by Grant out of the backfield. He hauled in a 44-yard reception, then carried the ball for a touchdown on the next play. Higgins kicked the first of seven extra-points to send Prairie Grove ahead, 7-6, beginning a 24-point explosion in the second. Cade Walker kicked the eighth P.A.T. much to the delight of Prairie Grove fans.
Northern passed to Tavares Townsend for 13 yards then hit Dekari Clark on a 49-yard touchdown and the lead fluctuated back-and-forth. Blytheville moved ahead 13-7 on Tyler Landry's P.A.T. kick, but Prairie Grove punched back with Layman ripping off a 52-yard run to the house. Higgins booted the point-after providing a one-point edge for the Tigers, at 14-13.
Gunner Caudle batted a third-down pass forcing a Blytheville punt and Prairie Grove capitalized aided by a face mask penalty. Grant dove into the end zone on fourth down making good on fourth-and-goal from the four. Higgins' kick gave Prairie Grove a 21-13 cushion, but Blytheville responded with a 9-play, 80-yard scoring drive capped by Northern's 37-yard touchdown pass to Kylen Wells. The Chickasaws passed for two points to tie the score at 21-21 with 1:21 to go in the first half.
Townsend intercepted a Knox Laird pass, but the Tiger defense held forcing four straight incompletions including one pass broken up by Higgins. Prairie Grove took over at its own 45 with 36 seconds to play in the first half. Knox Laird passed to Grant for 24 yards, then hit Layman on a 4-yard gain before connecting with Jackson Sorters for 11 yards. Sorters stepped out-of-bounds stopping the clock at 11 seconds. After an incomplete pass, Higgins came on to kick a 33-yard field goal boosting the Tigers to a 24-21 halftime lead.
The win advanced Prairie Grove to a meeting with Rivercrest another 4A-3 team, which beat Blytheville, 45-21, on Nov. 6.
Prairie Grove 59, Blytheville 34
Blytheville^6^15^13^0^--^34
Prairie Grove^0^24^7^28^--^59
First Quarter
Blytheville -- Jeremiah Northern 1-yard run (Tyler Landry kick), 10:30
Second Quarter
Prairie Grove – Cade Grant 15-yard run (Paytin Higgins kick), 10:32
Blytheville -- Dekari Clark 49-yard pass from Jeremiah Northern (Tyler Landry kick), 10:08
Prairie Grove – Foster Layman 52-yard run (Paytin Higgins kick), 9:59
Prairie Grove – Cade Grant 4-yard run (Paytin Higgins kick), 3:21
Blytheville -- Kylen Wells 37-yard pass from Jeremiah Northern (Tavares Townsend pass from Jeremiah Northern), 1:21
Prairie Grove – Paytin Higgins 33-yard field goal, 0:02
Third Quarter
Blytheville -- Tavares Townsend 18-yard pass from Jeremiah Northern (kick blocked), 8:13
Prairie Grove – Cade Grant 16-yard pass from Knox Laird (Paytin Higgins kick), 6:34
Blytheville -- Levin Reed 24-yard pass from Jeremiah Northern (Tyler Landry kick), 2:23
Fourth Quarter
Prairie Grove – Foster Layman 4-yard run (Paytin Higgins kick), 11:56
Prairie Grove – Landon Semrad 11-yard run (Paytin Higgins kick), 7:49
Prairie Grove – Knox Laird 4-yard run (Paytin Higgins kick), 4:15
Prairie Grove – Paytin Higgins 85-yard interception return (Cade Walker kick), 0:45
TEAM STATISTICS
Prairie Grove^Blytheville
First downs^26^21
Total offense^459^381
Rushes-yards^46-338^25-79
Passing yards^121^302
Rush average^7.3^3.2
Comp-Att-Yds^TD^Int^7-17-121-1-1^21-35-302-4-2
Punts-Avg.^1-32.0^2-41.0
Penalties-Yds^6-80^8-48
Third-down conversion^0-6^3-10
Fourth-down conversion^3-4^3-5
Turnovers^1^3
Fumbles lost^0^2
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Prairie Grove, Cade Grant 19-150, Foster Layman 14-121, Knox Laird 7-33, Landon Semrad 2-22, Ethan Miller 4-12. Totals 46-338. Blytheville, Jeremiah Northern 18-44, John Johnson 2-12, Dee Wells 1-9, Dekari Clark 1-8, Kylen Wells 3-6. Totals 25-79.
PASSING -- Prairie Grove, Knox Laird 7-17-121-1-1. Blytheville, Jeremiah Northern 20-32-284-4-1, Kylen Wells 1-3-18-0-1. Totals 21-35-302-4-2
RECEIVING -- Prairie Grove, Cade Grant 3-84, Jackson Sorters 2-21, Matthew Velasco 1-12, Foster Layman 1-4. Totals 7-121. Blytheville, Tavares Townsend 12-115, Kylen Wells 6-114, Dekari Clark 1-49, Levin Reed 1-24. Totals 21-302.