Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Tigers Flip Field On Farmington
PRAIRIE GROVE DEFEATS CARDINALS, 35-14
PRAIRIE GROVE —Deuces were wild Friday, as Prairie Grove twice found a way to flip the field, turning the tables in breaking a two- game losing streak to rival Farmington, 35-14.
Isaac Disney and Clay Fidler each caught two touchdown passes. Prairie Grove built a 14-0 halftime lead that could have been an equal deficit had they not pulled the turf out from underneath the visiting Cardinals. Fidler turned a medium-range pass into a 48-yard touchdown catch after Prairie Grove survived having a punt blocked and later gained 56 yards on a pass play to the Cardinal one with five seconds remaining in the
first half. Two plays later, Reed Orr punched the ball in for a 2-yard touchdown as time expired.
Farmington coach Mike Adams said his team has got to get better and learn from their mistakes after letting the Tigers off the ropes when they failed to score with a first-down inside the 15-yard line. A week earlier, Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier emphasized the need for improvement in the passing game after an Aug. 23 scrimmage against 7A Van Buren. The Tigers left no doubt as to their capacity to strike through the air Friday. Abshier was especially pleased with senior Zeke Laird in his first- game as starting quarterback.
“We’ve got a couple of deep-threats in Isaac Disney and Clay Fidler,” Abshier said. “We had 267 yards passing. Zeke was 8-of-15, over 50 percent (completions), which is great with no interceptions and four touchdowns.”
Abshier was also pleased with the running game, which produced 171 total yards. Nearly every Tiger run was productive. Abshier praised the play of Dustin Burton and Anthony Johnson, who were among the top ground-gainers.
Farmington got back in the game when Caleb Williams burst loose for 43 yards to the Tiger four, setting up Trey Waggle’s quarterback sneak. Prairie Grove prevented a 2-point run out of the swinging-gate formation, but Farmington had trimmed the lead to 14-6 midway through the third period.
Johnson set up a Tiger touchdown as the third quarter wore down with a 29-yard dash. Zeke Laird tossed a 37-yard touchdown pass to Disney, then added a 2-point conversion by throwing to Fidler for a 21-6 advantage. In the fourth quarter, Zeke Laird hit Disney in stride, who shook off a tackle and took the ball 67 yards for a touchdown. Justis McNatt’s kick extended the lead to 28-6 with just under 10 minutes to go. A snap over the quarterback in the shotgun doomed a Farmington drive and Prairie Grove again flipped the field, driving 60 yards in six plays with Zeke Laird aiming a lob for Fidler in the right corner of the end zone to convert on fourth-and-8 from the Cardinal 15. Fidler booted the P.A.T. and the Tigers led 35-6.
Farmington responded with a 49- yard scoring march after Skyler Montez’ kickoff return to midfield. Sophomore tailback Reid Turner scored the game’s final touchdown on a 2-yard plunge. Blake Putnam ran in a 2-point conversion, but the Cardinals trailed, 35-14, with 1:23 left and Prairie Grove ran out the clock.
Scores of balloons were released prior to the game in memory of Jarren Sorters, who passed Aug. 11, and to bring awareness for September as childhood cancer month. Jarren would have been a sophomore at Prairie Grove.
On Friday Farmington travels to former 4A-1 foe, Huntsville, which defeated Green Forrest, 28- 0, last week. Meanwhile, Prairie Grove meets Vian, Oklahoma (2-0) for the first time. Both games are away and kick off at 7 p.m.