PEA RIDGE -- Prairie Grove showcased junior Connor Hubbs, with the wingback accounting for three touchdowns as the Tigers rambled past Pea Ridge, 48-31, Friday.
Hubbs, who's been splitting time between receiver and wingback, moved into the backfield taking the place of the injured Joe Sims and the Tigers never skipped a beat. Hubbs finished with 255 all-purpose yards including six rushes for 92 yards, two receptions for 29 yards and two kickoff returns for 134 yards. He also intercepted a pass on defense and can play deep snapper or punt if needed.
"He had a really good game," said Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier.
Along with fullback Coner Whetsell (13 carries, 181 yards, one touchdown) and halfback Ethan Miller (13 carries, 150 yards, 2 rushing touchdowns, 1 receiving touchdown). the Tiger stable of runners operated like a one-two-three punch dynamic powering Prairie Grove (3-1, 1-0 5A West) to a win in its 5A West Conference debut at Blackhawk Stadium, site of many a showdown between the two schools which once regularly competed for the 4A-1 crown.
"It's our first win in 5A ever. It feels like another game to us," Abshier said.
Pea Ridge kicked a 37-yard field goal to grab a 3-0 lead, but that was short lived.
For the second consecutive week Hubbs returned a kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown. He received a high kick barely within the field of play near the left sideline. Hubbs turned right, arcing his way across the gridiron. By the time he reached the right hash he was past half of the Blackhawk kickoff coverage team as he crossed the 20 and began to go upfield. He shot past four more black jerseys and crossed the 30 with one man to beat. Hubbs used all the real estate available and kept his feet inbounds as Pea Ridge sophomore kicker Damian Trejo tried to get a hand on him.
That was as close as any Blackhawk came to tackling him. Hubbs turned on the jets, racing across the 50 down the right sideline. He looked back at the Pea Ridge 46 with the closest pursuer three yards back. The Blackhawk chased him all the way, making a diving attempt as Hubbs reached the three, but bringing Hubbs down in the end zone did no good. The touchdown stood.
That feat hasn't happened with a kick return for a touchdown from the same exact distance in two straight weeks before in Abshier's 30 seasons at Prairie Grove. He praised both his defense and Hubbs for swinging the momentum.
"The defense holds them to a field goal, then Hubbs runs it back. He turned it on. He had decent blocking and he made it to the end zone," Abshier said.
Prairie Grove led 7-3 after one quarter, but the lead switched hands several times.
Pea Ridge (1-3, 0-1 5A West) jumped ahead, 10-7, in the second quarter on Seth Foster's 18-yard touchdown run, but soon found Prairie Grove knocking at the door with a third-and-goal from the five.
Tiger quarterback Camden Patterson rolled out to his left with two defenders running after him. Miller slipped out of the backfield uncovered and was wide open for the touchdown reception. The score pushed the Tigers ahead 14-10 and they kept that four-point margin at halftime.
The Blackhawks threatened in the third quarter, but Prairie Grove turned away their earnest effort to regain the lead with a goal line stand on fourth-and-goal inside the its own one. Abshier hailed the defensive effort, attributing much of the success to his group in the middle, linebacker Rhett Marrell, and defensive linemen James Moss, Ryder Orr and Corbin Bowlin.
"You just take a bet on what the other team's going to do and we bet correctly that they were going to try up the middle. We got enough bodies in there to move nowhere," Abshier said. "They tried to stuff it in there with a quarterback sneak and we stuffed them up. That was great. That's what football's all about."
Whetsell reeled off a 20-yard gain to get Prairie Grove out of the shadow of its own goal line. The next touchdown came from Whetsell straight up the middle on a 6-yard carry and the Tigers owned a 20-10 lead. Running a sweep the Tigers sealed off the edge and Miller went around left end. Orr sprung him with a downfield block at the Pea Ridge 45 as Miller broka a 50-yard dash to the house to make it 27-10.
Abshier noted Orr and Moss both had pancake blocks on keys plays as did Luke Vance on a kickoff return.
Prairie Grove got an extra possession with Hubbs' interception. Whetsell set up the next score with a 54-yard burst up the middle to the Blackhawk 20. After a penalty cost them five yards, the Tigers cashed in with Hubbs scoring on a 25-yard wingback reverse as the Tigers opened up a 35-10 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The teams combined for 34 points during a wild fourth quarter, reminiscent of some of their classic 4A-1 shootouts in recent years.
Pea Ridge narrowed the gap to 35-17 when Blackhawk quarterback Gavin Dixon threw 24 yards to Caden Thompson for a touchdown.
Prairie Grove answered with Whetsell cruising off right tackle for 29 yards to convert first-and-19 from the Tiger 47. Prairie Grove finished the drive with Miller punching the ball in from 2 yards out, expanding the lead to 41-17.
Hubbs' monster night continued on a double handoff. With the defensive flow going left as Miller sold a fake after handing off, Hubbs ran right with the ball. He cut inside the hashes as the Tiger offensive line opened the way for a 47-yard touchdown run tacked onto his highlight reel and Prairie Grove went up 48-17.
The Blackhawks didn't go quietly, scoring on Dixon's 7-yard touchdown pass to Brayden Wright, and on defense with Jonathan Lyons returning a fumble 69 yards to account for the 48-31 final score.
The keys for the Tigers were stopping Pea Ridge early. Abshier touted Marrell's ability to get lateral on pass coverage.
"Marrell played well on defense from his linebacker spot. He knocked down two passes at the sideline. That's a long way for a linebacker to roam," Abshier said.
Prairie Grove hosts Harrison this week. The Goblins are coming off a 21-14 win over Farmington in a game Abshier observed was played at a much faster pace than the Tigers' conference opener against Pea Ridge. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. Friday at Tiger Stadium.
Prairie Grove 48, Pea Ridge 31
Prairie Grove^--^7^7^21^13^--^48
Pea Ridge^--^3^7^0^21^--^31
First Quarter
Pea Ridge - Damian Trejo 37-yard field goal, 9:07.
Prairie Grove -- Conner Hubbs 83-yard kickoff return (Cale Bray kick), 8:35.
Second Quarter
Pea Ridge -- Seth Foster 18-yard run (Damian Trejo kick), 7:35.
Prairie Grove -- Ethan Miller 5-yard pass from Camden Patterson (Cale Bray kick), 4:57.
Third Quarter
Prairie Grove -- Coner Whetsell 6-yard run (Cale Bray kick), 3:37.
Prairie Grove -- Ethan Miller 50-yard run (kick failed), 1:39.
Fourth Quarter
Pea Ridge -- Caden Thompson 24-yard pass from Gavin Dixon (Damian Trejo kick), 10:14.
Prairie Grove -- Ethan Miller 2-yard run (2-point conversion).
Prairie Grove -- Conner Hubbs 25-yard run (Cale Bray kick).
Prairie Grove -- Conner Hubbs 47-yard run (kick failed).
Pea Ridge -- Brayden Wright 7-yard pass from Gavin Dixon (Damian Trejo kick), 2:01.
Pea Ridge -- Jonathan Lyons 69-yard fumble return (Damian Trejo kick), 0:40.
TEAM STATISTICS
Prairie Grove^Pea Ridge
First downs^26^22
Total offense^493^364
Rushes-yards^38-408^30-136
Passing yards^45^228
Rush average^10.7^4.5
Comp-Att-Yds^TD^Int^6-9-45-1-0^20-32-228-3-1.
Punts-Avg.^0-N/A^3-28.0
Turnovers^2^1
Fumbles lost^2^0
Third down^5-7^3-12
Fourth down^1-2^1-2
Penalties-Yds^5-50^4-40
Missed field goals -- Pea Ridge, Damian Trejo 42-yards, second quarter.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Prairie Grove, Coner Whetsell 13-181, Ethan Miller 13-150, Conner Hubbs 6-92, Camden Patterson 3-15, Jace Edwards 1-10, Tate Cox 2-10. Totals 38-408. Pea Ridge, Seth Foster 19-100, Gavin Dixon 11-36. Totals 30-136.
PASSING -- Prairie Grove, Camden Patterson 6-9-45-1-0. Pea Ridge, Gavin Dixon 20-32-228-3-1.
RECEIVING -- Prairie Grove, Conner Hubbs 2-29, Coner Whetsell 1-13, Ethan Miller 1-5, Matthew Velasco 1-(-1), Jace Edwards 1-(-1). Totals 6-45. Pea Ridge, Caden Thompson 5-73, Waylon Fletcher 5-43, Seth Foster 3-54, Austin James 3-27, Brayden Wright 2-21, Evan Anderson 2-17. Totals 20-228.
Staff photograph by Annette Beard Prairie Grove Tigers defenders No. 52 and 7 stopped Blackhawk Seth Foster, No. 28, in his run for the end zone Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in Blackhawk Stadium in the Pea Ridge Homecoming game.
Staff photograph by Annette Beard Prairie Grove Tigers player no. 52 turned to stop Blackhawk quarterback Gavin Dixon, No. 15, as Tiger no. 65 blocked Blackhawk Seth Foster, No. 28, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in Blackhawk Stadium.
Staff photograph by Annette Beard Prairie Grove Tiger No. 7 ran the ball away from a pack of pursuing Blackhawks. The Tigers defeated the Pea Ridge Blackhawks Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in Blackhawk Stadium in the Pea Ridge Homecoming game.
Staff photograph by Annette Beard The Prairie Grove Tigers band played as the football team defeated the Pea Ridge Blackhawks Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in Blackhawk Stadium in the Pea Ridge Homecoming game.
Staff photograph by Annette Beard The Prairie Grove Tigers took over the ball on the 1-yard line after repeated attempts to score by the Blackhawks failed in the third quarter. The Tigers defeated the Pea Ridge Blackhawks Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in Blackhawk Stadium in the Pea Ridge Homecoming game.