Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Don’t Make Him Hungry
LEGEND OF DISNEY VS. PEA RIDGE
PRAIRIE GROVE — “Don’t make me angry, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry,” warns mild-mannered Bruce Banner played by Bill Bixby in the 1980s television drama “The Incredible Hulk.”
Most villains learned the hard way and experienced the consequences of stirring up Banner’s alter ego, the massive, powerful Hulk played by Lou Ferrigno.
In the same manner, somebody should have warned Pea Ridge, “don’t make Isaac Disney hungry.”
If the Blackhawks would have listened, could they have been persuaded? Let Disney catch the football as a pass receiver on offense? Prairie Grove is going to score, let Disney get in the end zone on one of the Tiger drives?
The Blackhawks, of course, had no such intentions; not with the 4A-1 Conference title on the line in week seven of the 2016 high school football campaign; and they suffered the consequences.
Disney’s high school classmate and soon-to-be college football teammate at Arkansas Tech, Jack Stone, recalled an incident from junior high that still tickles Stone’s memory.
“It was in the seventh or eighth grade, I guess he got pretty hungry for something,” Stone said, describing a chase with Disney in pursuit of Reed Orr, who was eating a donut stick.
The chase was intense and Orr locked himself in a bathroom stall. At that moment the bell rang and Stone walked by as the bathroom door flung open. He witnessed Disney kick down the stall door.
“I got to see the whole thing,” Stone said. “I thought, man, that’s crazy.”
Disney didn’t get the donut stick.
“Reed made sure it was his,” Stone said.
But Disney did get in-school suspension.
Pea Ridge tasted the same tenacity. The Blackhawks paid a lot of attention to Disney lined up as a flanker Oct. 14. Prairie Grove was aware and wisely didn’t force the issue avoiding turnovers that could have turned the tide in favor of Pea Ridge. He was held without a single pass reception, but that only made him hungry.
Prairie Grove had an early 14-0 lead, but Pea Ridge scored twice in a 2:13 span to tie the game with 9:53 remaining in the second quarter. The Blackhawks tried to keep the momentum with a sky kick which Anthony Johnson recovered for Prairie Grove. The Tigers drove to the Blackhawk 30 but lost a fumble. Pea Ridge couldn’t make a first down and punted. The Blackhawks didn’t realize, but their harassment of Disney’s pass routes was about to ignite a ticking time bomb.
Disney channelled his hunger into a dramatic sequence of game-changing plays. He exploded on a 39-yard punt return to set up a Tiger first down at the Pea Ridge 34. An interception ended the drive, but the Blackhawks were again forced to punt. Disney crashed in from the edge and blocked the punt with Dustin Burton recovering for the Tigers at the Pea Ridge 15. Prairie Grove couldn’t score, and turned the ball over on downs on a sack back to the Blackhawk 21.
The Tigers then turned up the heat on defense. Facing third-and-18, Pea Ridge quarterback Jakota Sainsbury dropped back to pass, but Disney picked off the throw and returned the ball 25 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. Clay Fidler’s P.A.T. gave Prairie Grove a 21-14 lead going into halftime.
Carl Simpson recovered a Pea Ridge onside kick to start the second half. Prairie Grove capitalized on a short field. The Tigers marched 51 yards in eight plays to score on Zeke Laird’s 10-yard quarterback keeper.
After the kickoff, the Tiger defense dug in. Johnson and Stone made tackles to set up a third-and-six. Pea Ridge went to the air. Under pressure, Sainsbury tried to chuck the football out-ofbounds. Disney reached back over his head to make a spectacular interception. Disney walked a tight rope near the sideline, and ran like a guided missile getting big blocks from his teammates during a 48-yard runback for his second defensive touchdown of the contest. Zeke Laird ran in a 2-point conversion stretching the Tiger advantage to 35-14 at the 7:20 mark of the third quarter.
Both teams scored a touchdown in the fourth period. Johnson had a 19-yard touchdown run for Prairie Grove and Pea Ridge scored on Drew Winn’s 47-yard run to make the final, 42-21.
The game was branded with Disney’s Tiger paws and showcased the stuff legends are made of.
“He’s an electric player,” said Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier. “That interception runback gave us a little breathing room.”