Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Five Football Tigers Receive League Honors
PRAIRIE GROVE ALL-STATE, ALL-CONFERENCE FOOTBALL
PRAIRIE GROVE — Five Prairie Grove football players received All-Conference honors: Hayden Black, Cade Grant, David Hall, Keiandre Hobbs, and Cordelle Whetsell, from the 2019 season.
Black also was honored with All-State recognition.
Overview
A major change occurred on defense with the Tigers lining up in a 3-4 and despite an 0-3 start they achieved their ninth-straight playoff berth by going 4-3 in the 4A-1. Coach Danny Abshier (199114-2) finished one win away from 200 career high school football victories. The issue came up when the Tigers lost 28-27 in a road playoff game at Hamburg and one of the players came up telling Abshier, “Sorry, you didn’t get your 200th win.”
“Th a t caugh t me off-guard,” Abshier said. “I wasn’t even thinking about that.”
Fans can be sure everybody will be thinking about that when the Tigers play host to No. 1 rival Farmington, now a 5A West team along with Pea Ridge, in the season-opener.
All-State Hayden Black
Black (6-4, 300) anchored the Tiger offensive line as the “Big Hoss,” a 3- year starter at left tackle. Showing good range for a big man he accounted for 9 solo and 24 assists totaling 33 tackles while not playing full-time on defense. With Prairie Grove switching to a 3-man defensive front, Black alternated with senior Austin Medina (5-9, 245) and junior Kaige Adams ( 5-7, 200) at the nose guard position. In February Black signed with Winfield College, of Winfield, Kan., to continue his football career at the next level. He plans to major in Business.
All-Conference Cade Grant
As Prairie Grove’s leading rusher, Grant (5-11, 182) carried the ball 75 times for 600 yards averaging 8-yards- per- carry scoring 5 touchdowns with a long run of 51 yards. He didn’t fumble. Grant maximized his 3 catches stretching out the yardage total to 75 with a long gain of 34. He averaged 25 yards-per-catch.
“Junior Cade Grant has some good moves, a smooth runner who has an extra gear,” Abshier said.
Grant played cornerback on defense as a returning starter. Grant started as a necessity due to injuries in the defensive backfield as a sophomore in 2018, and continued to improve as a junior.
Grant demonstrated tenacity in the season-opener as Farmington unveiled its new $16 million sports complex highlighted by Cardinal Stadium. He utilized his speed closing on Farmington tailback Jaden Schader (6-0, 212), standing him up and stopping a sweep.
Not afraid to come up and support the run, Grant ranked fifth on the team in total tackles with 42 from a combination of 18 solos and 24 assists. Grant picked off a team-high 4 passes. He also knocked down two passes and forced a pair of fumbles.
Keiandre Hobbs
Abshier described Hobbs (5-7, 155) as “the quickest guy we got.” Hobbs played fullback on offense and factored in the rotation at safety on defense.
Hobbs gained 364 yards on 61 rushes for 8 touchdowns averaging a shade under 6- yards- per- carry with a long run of 35 yards. Hobbs finished as the Tigers’ leading receiver with the most receptions ( 17) and most yardage ( 330) averaging 19.4-yards-per-catch taking a long gain for 56 yards. He scored 3 touchdowns on pass receptions.
Hobbs’ activity on defense made him the second leading tackler recording 74 tackles on 23 solos and 51 assists. He added one interception. Cordelle Whetsell
Senior Whetsell ( 6- 2, 185) started at wingback and played cornerback on defense where he earned a starting position as a junior.
“He provided a lot of experience, very strong, good size,” Abshier said.
Whetsell provided an additional threat out of the backfield when defenses began to key on Tiger halfbacks and fullbacks. From the wingback position he ripped off 199 yards on 35 runs averaging 5.5-yards-perrush scoring 3 touchdowns. His longest jaunt went for 24 yards. Whetsell had the third most receptions on the team with 10 catches for the second highest yardage total of 197 with a long gain of 41 and 2 touchdowns via the air.
In February Whetsell signed with Winfield College, of Winfield, Kan. to continue his football career at the next level and will major in Criminal Justice.
Whetsell racked up 25 solos and 18 assists to finish fourth in total tackles. His 3 interceptions were good for second on the team and he added 2 passes knocked down in addition to handling punting duties.
David Hall
Junior David Hall ( 5- 9, 185) started at inside linebacker after playing defensive lineman since seventh grade, making the switch in the off-season to standing up instead of playing a down lineman. Assistant coach Nic Paroubek described him as very hard-nosed and willing to crash into a wall for the sake of his teammates.
“He’s somebody who all his teammates love,” Paroubek said. “The coaches love him because he’s an extremely hard worker, very sound tackler and hits very hard.”
Opposing ball carriers, who bore the brunt of Hall’s Tiger-topping 91 tackles (31 solos and 60 assists), could attest to that. Hall forced two fumbles and knocked down one pass.