Warren trio ensures 28 not enough
PRAIRIE GROVE — When Prairie Grove scores at least 28 points, things usually go its way.
Hayden Lassiter, Treylon Burks and Keemontrae McKnight thwarted the norm Friday night.
Lassiter passed for 437 yards and ran for a touchdown, while Burks and McKnight combined for six touchdown receptions as Warren claimed a 48-28 victory in a Class 4A semifinal at Tiger Stadium.
Prairie Grove entered the game having won 53 of its past 54 games when the Tigers scored at least 28 points. The last time they lost when scoring that many was a 49-32 setback against Nashville in the 2014 playoffs.
Lassiter misfired on his first pass Friday, then connected on his next eight and already had compiled 245 yards as Warren (14-0) took a 28-0 lead. He connected with Burks for touchdown passes of 32 and 44 yards in the first quarter, then added a 56-yard touchdown pass to McKnight later in the first.
His fourth touchdown pass, a 41-yarder to McKnight, came on the fourth play of the second quarter, and the Lumberjacks had their 28-0 cushion with 10:33 left before halftime.
“That’s something we wanted to do,” Warren Coach Bo Hembree said. “We wanted to throw the football coming into this game. We knew we had some matchups that we really liked, and I thought we did a really good job.
“I’m every excited for these kids. It will be a fun experience for them, and hopefully we can get prepared.”
The Tigers never found a way to get out of the early hole. Prairie Grove was able to cut Warren’s lead to 28-14 before the first half ended as Zeke Laird hit Isaac Disney with a 35-yard touchdown pass, then Anthony Johnson’s interception set up Laird’s 1-yard touchdown run with 20 seconds before halftime.
Prairie Grove had the ball to start the second half, and the Tigers drove to midfield before they tried a pass, but Dustin Burton was hit by two Warren defenders and couldn’t hold on to a fourthdown pass.
“We just couldn’t score,” Prairie Grove Coach Danny Abshier said. “We hadn’t punted the ball in a while and had to punt the ball three times in this game. We just couldn’t pull it off. They were pretty good.
“We were ready. I think our guys were ready to play. I think we were pretty physical. I don’t know if we were ready for some of the stuff they had.”
Lassiter made sure the Tigers’ comeback was fleeting. He ran 8 yards for one touchdown, then threw touchdown passes to Burks for 37 and 40 yards, with the latter giving Warren a 48-20 lead with 10:19 remaining.
Lassiter completed 18 of 22 passes with one interception. Burks — a 6-3 sophomore — caught 8 passes for 202 yards, and McKnight — another sophomore — added 143 yards on 6 receptions for Warren, which will play Pea Ridge in the Class 4A state championship game next week at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Laird completed 19 of 32 passes for 236 yards for Prairie Grove.