Disney leads Prairie Grove past Huntsville

PRAIRIE GROVE — Issac Disney has been quite the character the last two games for Prairie Grove.

After being named the NWA Touchdown Club’s Player of the Week following a stellar performance in last week’s 53-0 thrashing of West Fork, Disney put on another show Friday at Tiger Stadium, returning a 69-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter of Prairie Grove’s 41-12 win over Huntsville as the Tigers remained unbeaten at 4-0 and won their first 4A-1 Conference outing of the year.

“That return was supposed to be going to the right,” Disney said of the highlight-reel return. “I went to the right and they closed it off. I reversed field and found some open field, turned the jets on and went to the end zone.”

With the Tigers leading 270 early in the third period, the Eagles (1-3, 0-1) needed a defensive stop to prevent a running clock due to the 35-point mercy rule. But Disney’s score and a two-point conversion put the Tigers on top 35-0, making the clock operator’s job a little easier.

Prairie Grove had an inauspicious start to the game, fumbling the opening kickoff to set the Eagles up at the 27 with an early scoring opportunity. But Huntsville gave the ball back to the Tigers after a fumble at the 10-yard line.

Prairie Grove then set out on a four-play, 90-yard scoring drive, capped by a 68-yard rushing touchdown by Anthony Johnson to open the scoring. Prairie Grove made another special teams mistake on Huntsville’s ensuing drive after Lukas Rayl’s punt hit a Tiger defender and JD Vaughan jumped on the loose ball.

“There are still things we need to work on,” Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier said. “We made some mistakes. There are still plays that we are not executing at all. We have to clean up those mistakes if we are going to continue to win.”

Huntsville’s drive stalled on fourth-and-5 at the Prairie Grove 22, and the Tigers again struck quickly to extend the lead to 13-0 after a 3-play, 78-yard drive that took 35 seconds. Quarterback Zeke Laird took the opening play 30 yards, Reed Orr chewed up 38 yards of turf on the second play and Jaron Evans finished the drive with a 7-yard plunge to the end zone.

It was the beginning of the end for the Eagles as Orr scored from 2 yards out in opening moments of the second quarter and Johnson added his second touchdown with a 10-yard scamper before halftime for a 27-0 advantage.