Blackhawks’ comeback runs out of time
After digging themselves a big hole in the first half of play, the Blackhawk football team made a spirited comeback in the second half before falling to the Gentry Pioneers 43-30 in the annual Homecoming game.
The loss overshadowed outstanding performances by running back Shane Ivy and return specialist/receiver Logan Rose. Ivy racked up 166 yards on just nine carries with Rose returning kicks for 114 yards while catching three passes for 74 yards. Both athletes scored a pair of touchdowns each.
“We made a good run in the second half, but we put ourselves too far into a hole early on,” Tony Travis, head Blackhawk coach, said. “The Pioneers’ Jared Cousins made a lot of big plays, and while he will get his yards, he got too many against us.”
After holding the ’Hawks on their first possession, the Pioneers’ Cousins passed and ran the ball visitors on eight of 10 plays to garner 60 yards of offense and the game’s initial touchdown. The score came on a 2-yard run by Cousins with 4:58 left in the first quarter as Gentry opened a 7-0 lead.
A fumbled kick, coupled with a holding penalty and three incompletions forced a ’Hawk punt to the ’Hawk 42. After a holding penalty pushed the Pioneers back to Gentry 39, Cousins split two defenders with a pass to Hague for 49 yards to the ’Hawk 4. Cousins ran it in from there on the next play, increasing the lead to 13-0 with 2:11 left in the period.
Pea Ridge then made an effort to get back into the game, starting with a tough 25-yard kick return to the ’Hawk 30 by Justin Roberts. After a short run by Ivy, Brumley kept the ball on a 16-yard jaunt to cross into Pioneer territory at the 47 for a first down. A mishandled snap bounced the Pioneers way and the guests were back in business near mid-field. Cousins ran for gains of 14, 9 and 11 yards and passed to Hague for eight more and Gentry was back in the end zone with 10:19 left in the half, boosting the lead to 20-0.
Rose brought the ’Hawk fans
“We put ourselves too far into a hole early on.” Tony Travis Blackhawk head football coach
to their feet on the ensuing kickoff, returning the boot 40 yards to the mid-field stripe. Two dropped passes in a row derailed the drive but Rose pinned the Pioneers back deep with a booming 49-yard punt.
Johnathon Small gave the hosts some hope, getting through to drop Cousins for a 2-yard loss on first down. However, the Gentry signal caller quickly made it up by passing for a first down on the 33. Cousins hit another pass before running for 12 yards and a first down on the ’Hawks’ 45. Three plays later Cousins passed to Soule on a 33-yard scoring play, fattening the Gentry lead to 27-0 following the successful point with 4:47 left in the half.
The ’Hawks finally got untracked boosted by a 26-yard kick return by Roberts to the 30. Two consecutive running plays by Ivy (14 and 56) had the ’Hawks on the board for the first time. His successful 2-point conversion run cut the deficit top 27-8 with four minutes left.
After the kick, the ’Hawks got a heavy dose of Cousins with the quarterback running the ball six of eight plays to cover 80 yards for their fifth touchdown. Cousins dashed into the end zone from 20 yards out, and ran the 2-point conversion in as well as Gentry went into the half with a 35-8 bulge.
A holding penalty on the Pioneers on the first play of the third quarter pinned them back on their own 10 but two passes from Cousins to Hague netted 41 yards and a first down on the ’Hawk 43. After Garrett Easterling stuffed Cousins on first down, the Gentry quarterback broke loose on third down to dash to the end zone for his fifth rushing touchdown. Cousins’ 2-point conversion ballooned the lead to 43-8, igniting the mercy rule which forces the game clock to run continuously for the rest of the game.
With time fast running out, the ’Hawks got busy, taking just two plays to strike paydirt. The big play was a 59-yard bomb from Brumley to Logan Rose to shrink the lead to 43-14.
After allowing an initial first down, the ’Hawks held the Pioneers but were pinned back to their 5 on a booming 42-yard punt by Cousins. The ’Hawks’ new life on offense continued, as Ivy and Dylan McClellan broke loose on 11-yard runs on consecutive plays. Two plays later, Jack Rapp rolled right then dashed 57 yards to the Pioneer 16. Two plays later Brumley lofted a pass to Rose in the end zone for another score. Ivy took the 2-point conversion in to further reduce the deficit to 43-22.
The ’Hawks held again on defense, and their offense got even faster paced with Ivy breaking free down the east sidelines to outrun several defenders to race 76 yards for another touchdown. Brumley connected with Rose in the end zone for another 2-point conversion and suddenly, Pea Ridge only trailed 43-30.
With six minutes to play on a continuously running clock, Gentry only needed a couple of first downs to run the clock out. Cousins provided runs of nine and 22 yards to get the two needed first downs to run the clock out and ice the victory.