Blackhawks hand Pioneers defeat in conference opener
GENTRY — In a driving rain that lasted the entire night, the Pea Ridge Blackhawks managed to overwhelm the Gentry Pioneers in a head-tohead battle for the first conference contest of the 2018 football season.
With a moderate rain falling at Pioneer Stadium in Gentry Sept. 21, conditions were extremely wet and slippery. Both teams experienced difficulty in handling the ball throughout the contest.
For the first 10 minutes of the first quarter, the Pioneers and Blackhawks had trouble moving the ball downfield. With two minutes left in the quarter, Gentry quarterback Brandon Atwood lost his grip on the wet football and fumbled it near the Gentry 40-yard line. The ball was recovered by Hunter Butler for the Blackhawks. With a minute remaining and four plays later, Pea Ridge’s Tate Busey found the end zone on a quarterback keeper for the first touchdown of the night. Luis Reyes’ point after gave the Blackhawks a seven-point lead.
Gentry answered on the next play with an 80-yard kickoff return by Peyton Wright at the Gentry 30 yard line with 40.3 seconds left in the quarter for a touchdown. The point after was good, making it a 7-7 ball game.
A pair of touchdowns by Busey and Carson Rhines and two successful points after by Reyes in the second quarter gave the Blackhawks a 21-7 lead going into the halftime break.
The rain let up a little during the start of the third quarter. Neither team was able to take advantage of this break in the weather to score. Late in the third quarter, Rhines found the end zone one more time for his second touchdown of the night. Reyes’ point after attempt failed, making the score 27-7 as time ran out in the quarter.
Then the clouds unleashed their fury and a driving rain made it hard for both teams to hold onto the ball once again. Tension between the two teams began to build as the slippery field conditions, coupled with penalties, prevented any further scoring attempts.
With three minutes left in the contest, the tension levels finally reached the breaking point and a fight near the Pea Ridge bench erupted between several Blackhawk and Pioneer players. As coaches and officials tried to separate the first fight, a second one started near the Gentry 30 yard line. Finally, the officials sent both teams to the sidelines to regain control of the contest and assessed the penalty situation.
When the game finally resumed, both teams received penalties and several players on both sides of the field were ejected from the game.
The contest ended with the Pea Ridge Blackhawks taking their first conference victory of the 2018 season, 27-7, over the Gentry Pioneers.