Nashville to play surging Pea Ridge for shot at title
NASHVILLE, Ark.—On paper, Pea Ridge is no match for undefeated and No. 1-ranked Nashville.
Trouble is, tonight’s Class 4A semifinal won’t be played on paper. It will be played on a football field, Scrapper Stadium at 7 p.m., to be precise; and on football fields the last couple of weeks, especially late in the game, the 11-2 Blackhawks have been lethal.
Last week, playing in a deluge, senior kicker Jake Edwards drove through a field goal in overtime to give the Blackhawks a 3-0 win to end Central Arkansas Christian’s season at 11-2.
A week earlier, Pea Ridge knocked
a highly regarded Robinson team out of the playoffs, 28-27, by defending a 2-point pass attempt with 8 seconds to play.
“When we walk out on the field, I expect my team to look a lot different from their team. They’re young, they’re not very big, and they’re not very fast,” said Nashville coach Mike Volarvich.
“But we’re down to the final four, and all that’s left are good football teams that find a way to win.
“Pea Ridge plays very hard. When a play gets to the second level, you’ll look and see their defensive linemen pursuing 30 yards downfield. You don’t see that very much.”
The Scrappers (13-0) saw that firsthand last week, when a smaller, younger Warren team took advantage of five first-half turnovers to build a 24-14 lead at intermission.
Nashville took charge in the third quarter, scoring three times and once more at the start of the fourth quarter, but had to hold off a late rally to notch a 42-37 win.
“It’s hard to win when you have five turnovers. We only had 11 all season. That’s something we’ve prided ourselves on, taking care of the ball,” Volarvich said. “We played the first half like we’d practiced all week, which was not well, and in some cases, not at all. It was Thanksgiving week, and I had kids scattered from here to Dallas.”
The winner will meet the winner of Prairie Grove (121) and Arkadelphia (8-5) for a state championship next Saturday in Little Rock. This is Pea Ridge’s first trip to the semifinals, and Nashville’s 19th. The Scrappers have eight semifinal wins, the last in 2007, when the Scrappers went on to win their fourth state title.
Not a traditional power, the Blackhawks have won 10 or more games in three of coach Tony Travis’ six years at the school.
Pea Ridge’s is a run-first, proset offense, keyed by running back Zaine Holley with 290 carries for 1,777 yards and 26 TDs. Sophomore Drew Winn, who checks in at 5-foot-9 and 140 pounds, has gained playing time late in the season and adds some explosiveness to the running gane.
The Blackhawks rotate quarterbacks every series. Junior Cole Wright and sophomore Jakota Sainsbury split the snaps and average a combined 125 passing yards a game.
With the offense often controlling the clock, Pea Ridge has been exceptional on defense, holding opponents to just 16 points a game. Senior linebacker Bradley Beavers, who leads the team with 180 tackles, is questionable this week with a shoulder injury.
“Nashville is very talented, and we just have to play Blackhawk football. We just have to go out and play with confidence. I can’t say enough about the offensive line and the job they have done all season. The offensive line works their butt off for us,” Travis said
Warren’s defense was able to take away Nashville’s explosiveness last week, but quarterback Leonard Snell ran for 106 yards and two TDs, and junior running back Darius Hopkins ran for 100 yards and a score. Senior Terrell Grundy, a starting outside linebacker, gave the Scrappers a second-half boost with some power rushing up the middle, picking up 28 yards and two TDs on four carries.
For the season, Snell has rushed for 1,585 yards and 20 TDS and passed for 1,643 yards and 15 TDs. He threw a 61-yard strike to Ty Pettaway to open the third-quarter scoring.
This one may well come down to which powerful offense can impose its will on the other team.
“Our defense is going to have to stop their running game. If we can get some three-and-outs, not let them have long drives that keep our offense on the sideline, we’ll be OK.” Volarvich said.
“On offense, we’ve been pretty succesful all year doing what we do. When we get a chance to score, we need to score because possessions may be at a premium.”