Unbeaten Tigers whip Gentry
GENTRY — Prairie Grove jumped to a 20-0 lead and never looked back Friday night, disposing of Gentry, 62-28, at Pioneer Stadium.
The Tigers (8-0, 5-0 1-4A) scored on their first three possessions to take command of the game.
“We have gelled together well,” Prairie Grove Coach Danny Abshier said. “Early this season, nobody knew how good anyone was going to be. And you don’t know how good you are. You just take each step.”
Kyle Sam, Demarkus Cooper, Clay Fidler and Issac Disney each scored touchdowns for Prairie Grove before Gentry (2-6, 0-5) could respond.
The Pioneers closed the scoring gap to 28-8 when junior quarterback Jon Faulkenberry escaped pressure and raced 22 yards to the end zone.
The Tigers extended the lead to 40-7 early in the third on a 40-yard pass from Zeke Laird to Dustin Burton and an 8-yard run by Reed Orr before the Pioneers scored twice more.
Cole Cripps, who finished the game with seven catches for 184 yards, hauled in a 39-yard pass from Faulkenberry, and Faulkenberry followed that with a 27-yard touchdown run as the third quarter ended.
“We took down the top teams in the conference,” Abshier said. “Then Gentry, which has not had a great year, put up a huge fight. You have to give them credit.”
Anthony Johnson scored on a 32-yard run to open the fourth for Prairie Grove, and the Tigers cruised from there.
“We fought hard,” Gentry coach Paul Ernest said. “I am proud of the way the kids fought. [Cripps] and [Faulkenberry] are great players. We had been a flex bone offense all year. We didn’t feel like we could move the ball on them, so we spread it out a little and had a little success.
“Faulkenberry is a good quarterback. He would be a good hand anywhere. And Cripps has been one of our prime receivers for the past two years.”
Prairie Grove rolled up 535 total yards with 389 on the ground and 146 through the air. Orr led the way with 125 yards on 6 attempts while Johnson added 98 yards on 8 carries. Disney hauled in four passes for 98 yards.
Gentry finished with 362 total yards, led by Faulkenberry with 103 rushing yards.