Close Game: Tigers Tested Against Lincoln

PRAIRIE GROVE SCRATCHES FOR HARD WON VICTORY

LINCOLN — Gifts aren’t always recognized, but Lincoln did their neighbors in Prairie Grove a favor, humbling and frustrating the unbeaten Tigers, before falling, 33-20, in the regular season finale Friday.

If the Prairie Grove coaches were wishing for a good tune-up game before taking next week off with a first-round bye as the 4A state football playoffs get underway, Lincoln (3-7, 2-5 4A-1) gave them exactly what they wished for — and a whole lot more. Lincoln did something no other team has done this season, hold Prairie Grove scoreless in the first quarter. The Wolves, fighting for their playoff lives, stubbornly refused to bow to the kings of the 4A-1 Conference, even after Prairie Grove (10-0, 7-0) took a 33-6 lead on Zeke Laird’s 1-yard quarterback sneak with 3:27 left in the fourth period. Lincoln’s inspired play drew the attention of Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier

“They made us work for it tonight,” Abshier said. “Lincoln was more ready to play than most of us. We kicked it around. I don’t know how many turnovers we had.”

There were six. Lincoln coach Don Harrison said the Wolves have worked all year long on punching the ball out.

“We did some really good things defensively tonight,” Harrison said. “I don’t know how many fumbles we caused, but it paid off tonight. We kept punching that ball out. We’ve got to take this and make something positive out of it to build our program.”

The Tigers’ final touchdown came on 47-yard drive after Lincoln came up incomplete on fourth down, but the Wolves made the final 6 yards tough

“They made us work for it tonight.” Danny Abshier Prairie Grove Coach

going. Tackles by Pace Maddox, Trea Harrison and Henry Aguirre, among others stopped three Tiger runs short of the end zone before Zeke Laird broke the plane on fourth down. Perhaps, sensing time was running out on their season, Lincoln quickly answered. Senior Brent Crews got the offense good field position with a kick return to Lincoln’s 42. On third-and-six, Lincoln quarterback Harrison Swayne delivered on the money to Braden Umberson, who took off as a Tiger defensive back fell to the turf. Only the speed and hustle of Prairie Grove’s Isaac Disney prevented a touchdown. No matter, Swayne snuck in from the one on the next play, drawing the Wolves within, 33-12, with 2:11 remaining.

An onside kick was recovered by Prairie Grove, but Umberson tipped a pass away from Disney and intercepted the ball with a return to Lincoln’s 40. On the next play, Prairie Grove’s Clay Fidler saw a pass coming and went for an interception, but Umberson fought for the ball and the players had joint possession as they hit the turf — although Fidler wrestled the ball away a split second later. The officials were on top of the play and awarded Lincoln a first-down at the Tiger 28. They then called a “roughing the passer” penalty and moved the ball to the Tiger 13. Yet, another penalty was marked

against Prairie Grove for defensive encroachment on the drive and the Wolves scored on Swayne’s 9-yard keeper. He then tossed a shovel pass to Christian Crittenden for a 2-point conversion and the Wolves made the contest, a two- score game, of 33- 20, with 44 seconds to play.

“We haven’t had those kind of breaks the whole season,” Abshier said. “It all caught up with us tonight.”

Fidler said the Tigers definitely came into the game with too much confidence and made some adjustments after being shut out in the first quarter. Prairie Grove scored three touchdowns in the second quarter. Anthony Johnson had a 24-yard run. Zeke Laird kicked the extrapoint, but had a second kick blocked after Dustin Burton scored on a 7-yard run. The Tigers went for two after Kyle Sam’s 19-yard touchdown run, but failed to convert and settled for a 19-0 lead at halftime.

“It was obvious, we were overconfident,” Fidler said. “Next week, we have the bye. We’ll spend a lot of it trying to fix mistakes. Tonight’s game wasn’t just a win, it was a good reality check that made us wake up and realize we can be beaten and we can be played with.”

Abshier said having a first- round playoff bye is uncharted territory. He doesn’t like the bye and would rather have a game. None-the-less the veteran coach draws a great degree of satisfaction over what the Tigers have accomplished so far.

“We’ve had a solid season, we’re 10- 0,” Abshier said, pausing to reflect, “I remember when it was different, these guys can’t. It’s a good feeling to win a conference championship. I think they want some more, it sure seems like it. Maybe, we’ve got the shakes out. Maybe, we’ve got all the lice out. Maybe, we’ll be steady now.”