Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Blackhawks beat Tigers
Rhine, Beard, Reyes lift Pea Ridge past Prairie Grove
PRAIRIE GROVE — A quarterback switch, a punter and an errant punt snap were the difference in Pea Ridge’s 38-29 win against Prairie Grove on Friday.
The Blackhawks (5-2, 4-0 4A-1) started senior Carson Rhine at quarterback and his running coupled with timely passing and speedster Samuel Beard made it a long night for the Tigers (3-4, 2-2). Rhine rushed for three touchdowns and threw for another. It was his first game at quarterback since his freshman season.
Rhine had 21 carries for 144 yards and complimented Beard, who electrified with 19 carries for 220 yards and a touchdown.
“Carson Rhine at quarterback changed our offense,” said Pea Ridge coach Stephen Neal. “He’s pretty good at throwing the football, but with Carson, you have another running back and he can really run it.”
Another game-changer was the capable right foot of Pea Ridge’s Luis Reyes, who broke a 22-22 tie with a 21-yard field goal in the third
quarter. But his punt helped seal the victory.
On the heels of a 52-yard touchdown run by Prairie Grove sophomore Cade Grant that got the Tigers to within 32-29, Reyes booted a directional punt out of bounds to pin Prairie Grove at its own 2. He also hit a field goal to snap a second-half tie and the Blackhawks never trailed again.
“That’s him. He does that,” Neal said, “The kicking he did tonight also. That was a huge play. Huge.”
Three plays — including a third-down sack by junior Gavin Ward — later, Prairie Grove’s Garrett Heltemes had to punt from his own goal line. The snap skipped off the wet grass and Heltemes had no choice to run. On the ensuing play, Rhine burst through for a 13-yard touchdown to put the outcome in the Blackhawks hands and make it a two-possession game with under six minutes remaining in regulation.
“That got them,” Neal said. “And it took something like that because you’re talking Prairie Grove. It’s Prairie Grove and Pea Ridge and it’s always going to be tough. They always play hard and physical, and it was tonight.
“But we had a couple of breaks go our way like the punt in the end zone. That’s a break that went our way.”
A 48-yard run by senior James Millwood set up a 26-yard run by Grant to help the Tigers even the score at 22-22 on their first possession of the second half after they were down two scores in the first half.
“That’s coach [Danny] Abshier’s Wing-T offense and that’s why it’s frustrating,” Neal said. “You know what’s coming and you can’t stop it.”
Pea Ridge set the tone for the first half on the first two plays from scrimmage when Rhine galloped 23 yards on a keeper and Beard followed by sliding past tacklers to break free for a 44-yard run. Rhine capped it off with a 2-yard touchdown run and tacked on a two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead 54 seconds into the game.
It was the first of three, three-play scoring drives by the Blackhawks as they built a 22-14 halftime lead.
The second covered 55 yards with the final 53 coming on a perfectly executed runpass option by Rhine. Just moments before Prairie Grove’s defenders sandwiched him, Rhine threw a jump pass to Trevor Blair, who raced down the sidelines for a 15-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
The third was all runs by Beard, including a 34-yard touchdown run that pushed the lead to 22-7.
Earlier in the second quarter, Prairie Grove put together a nine-play, 80-yard drive that was highlighted when Millwood made Pea Ridge’s entire defense tackle bring him down after a 26-yard rumble. The drive ended with a 9-yard burst by Garrett Heltemes.
The Tigers also scored just before the half thanks to Heltemes converting a 3rd-down-4 when he slipped tackle for a 7-yard gain. Ethan Guenther finished the drive off by lofting a 17-yard pass to Graham Guenther, who leaped between a pair of Pea Ridge defenders for the grab to keep the margin at one possession at the half.