Lady Tigers Snap Skid In Fifth Set

PRAIRIE GROVE COMEBACK GENERATES 3-2 WIN

PRAIRIE GROVE — Firstyear Lady Tiger volleyball coach Mat Stewart can take a breath, the skid is over.

September began with a seven-set skid for Lady Tiger volleyball and threatened to reach losses in eight straight games before Prairie Grove awakened to the sound of rumble strips signaling danger ahead. The Lady Tigers rallied from a 2- 0 match deficit and overcame a 9-5 West Fork lead in the fifth and final set Thursday to claim their first victory of the month (23-25, 16-25, 25-18, 25-23, 15-13) at home.

Prairie Grove hadn’t won a match since sweeping Elkins ( 25-13, 25-10, 25-19) Aug. 30; and hadn’t won a set since taking game-two 25-17 during a 3-1 loss to Gravette (23-25, 25-21, 17-25, 17-25) Sept. 1. Shiloh Christian (6-6, 3-0) recorded a three-set sweep (25-11, 25-16, 25-15) of Prairie Grove Sept. 6.

Thursday’s match spelled more trouble for Prairie Grove. After building a 10-5 lead in game-one on Chrysten Wetzel’s ace, momentum swung in West Fork’s favor. West Fork turned the game around with an 18- 4 run. Keyed by consecutive aces from 5-feet-11 senior Holly Griffin, the visitors led 23-14. Prairie Grove fought to stay alive, trimming the lead to 23-17 on Riley Gerwig’s ace, but Sara Blackard’s kill brought West Fork to gamepoint at 24-17. Prairie Grove then reeled off six straight points with Alisan Alexander twice serving aces, but their bid to tie the game ended on a violation and West Fork took the first set, 25-23.

The second set was tied eight times, the last at 12-12 on Kara Anderson’s ace, but Prairie Grove faded after a controversial ruling went against them. Gerwig pounded a hit that appeared to go out- of- bounds off a West Fork tip that would have tied the game at 13-all, but the ruling was upheld although Stewart questioned the officials. West Fork scored the next five points to take a 17-12 advantage. Coming out of a timeout called by Stewart, Anna Kidd’s kill broke the run, but West Fork quickly fashioned another, closing out the second set with an 8-4 run to win game-two, 25-16.

Facing a must-win situation, Prairie Grove continued to battle uphill in the third set. West Fork led 9-4 early before Gerwig strung together a trio of aces to help Prairie Grove rally back into the lead at 10-9. Later in the set, a hard Gerwig hit was played by West Fork and stuck in the ceiling. Initially, Prairie Grove was awarded the point and led 13-11; but two-points later West Fork coach Lisa Kirk argued for a no play and officials took away the point. The score was changed to 12-12. West Fork claimed the next point to move in front, 13-12; but Gerwig smashed three kills and Kara Anderson dished out three aces pushing Prairie Grove’s led to 21-14. The two seniors combined for a set (Kara Anderson) and kill (Gerwig) to finish off gamethree, 25-16.

Again facing elimination, Prairie Grove weathered another West Fork run in the fourth set. Prairie Grove jumped out to 9- 2 lead capped by Gerwig’s kill; but West Fork was again able to turn the game in their favor. Senior setter Cassie Cartwright contributed a pair of aces and Griffin added three kills as West Fork captured a 19-18 lead to conclude a 17-9 run. Gerwig, who had difficulty serving on the day, during match, came up big with two aces. Alexander robbed West Fork of a kill with a dig leading to another Gerwig kill giving Prairie Grove a 22-20 edge. West Fork regained their composure to forge a 22-22 tie, but Prairie Grove got the break they needed. With two players colliding, West Fork bailed them out by stepping into the net with the go-ahead point awarded to Prairie Grove. Cadi Williamson’s ace brought Prairie Grove to game-point and after West Fork drew within, 24-23, on a service error; sophomore Kayley Anderson pounded a kill to give Prairie Grove a narrow 25-23 game-four win.

In the tiebreaker, West Force slipped ahead, 9- 6, behind two Griffin kills. Prairie Grove answered with Alexander’s ace and a Gerwig back- row kill tying the game at 9-9. The lead see- sawed back and forth before Gerwig’s kill pushed Prairie Grove in front, 12- 11. Kara Anderson (set) and Gerwig (kill) teamed up for the next two points, bringing Prairie Grove to match- point, at 14-11. West Fork scored the next two points, but Kayley Anderson’s dig fed her sister Kara Anderson’s set for Gerwig’s kill to win

FARMINGTON — Two Tiger touchdowns in the closing seconds of the first half changed the game as Prairie Grove scored a 28-8 victory over rival Farmington in junior high football Sept. 1.

Prairie Grove turned an 8- 0 deficit into a 12- 8 halftime lead at Farmington’s Allen Holland Field with a sustained drive followed by an interception return. Both scores came in the last 1: 10 of the second period. Prairie Grove marched 70 yards in 12 plays over a 4:10 span to cut the lead to 8- 6 on Keiandrae Hobbs’ 6- yard run off left tackle. The Cardinal defense prevented a 2- point run, but Prairie Grove’s defense capitalized on an errant pass on the ensuing Farmington possession. Jadin Higgs picked off a pass and ran the ball back 45 yards for a touchdown.

Prairie Grove head junior high coach John Elder said Higgins was either going to make the interception or drop the ball and be the most embarrassed player on the field because the football came right to him. Higgins, Prairie Grove’s starting quarterback, had just engineered a long touchdown drive with the junior Tigers converting twice on third down, but this score was quick and pushed Prairie Grove in front although their conversion running attempt again failed.

“He took it to the house right there,” Elder said.“He made some great plays offensively. He had some good reads, he made some runs, he made some passes.”

A penalty on the ensuing kickoff cost Farmington dearly. JaDarrien Burns initially dropped the football, then was off and running once he secured the pigskin, but his touchdown return was called back by a holding penalty. The junior Cardinals would not score again, having a second touchdown erased by penalty in the third period. On second and seven, Sutton threw to Drew Sturgeon, who caught the ball in the end zone, but the penalty moved the line of scrimmage back nine yards to the Tiger 30. Two plays later, Cade Grant’s interception took the ball away from Farmington ending a promising drive.

Going the other way, Prairie Grove’s Jared Harger ripped off runs of 22 and 20 yards. As the drive progressed into the red zone, the junior Cardinals knocked the ball loose but couldn’t come up with the fumble. Matt Rush recovered for Prairie Grove and Hobbs capped the drive with a 15- yard run. Higgins added the 2-point run on a bootleg to give the Tigers a 20-8 advantage at the 7:53 mark of the fourth quarter.

Prairie Grove tacked on another touchdown, going 59 yards in 10 plays with back-to-back fourth down conversions. Facing fourthand-18 from the Farming- ton 23, Prairie Grove was bailed out by a pass interference penalty. They still didn’t have first down and fourth down was replayed from the junior Cardinal 11. Breaking off left tackle, Foster Layman ran in a score, then Harrison Lowe ran the other way off right tackle to add the 2- point conversion giving Prairie Grove a 28-8 lead with 1:19 remaining in the game.

Farmington led early in the second quarter after capitalizing on good field position. A block- in- theback penalty during a punt return placed the ball at the junior Tiger three. Farmington’s defense held the visitors without a first-down with Hayden Grantham dropping a junior Tiger runner for 2- yard loss on second down. The junior Tigers were forced to punt from their own four. Sturgeon tracked the punt laterally, fielded the ball and made a good return to the Prairie Grove 11. On the next play, Burns scored on a jet sweep and Tate Sutton ran in the 2-point conversion.

Mistakes piled on top of mistakes short- circuited any hope of a comeback and Farmington head junior high coach Tracy Sutton wants the junior Cardinals to be mentally- tough and handle things when they go bad on the field.

“We had a lot of mental breakdowns,” Sutton said. “Not doing what we’re coached to do, we lost. I’ll take the blame for that one. We’ve got to do a better job of preparing them.”