’Hawks come back in 2nd half
In two quarters of football, the Pea Ridge Blackhawks out gained their opponent, the Maumelle Hornets, 262 yards to 137, while outscoring them 23-7.
Unfortunately, those two quarters were in the second half. The first half saw multiple ’Hawk turnovers and mistakes aid the Hornets in racing out to a 33-7 lead at the half. As poorly as the first half went though, the ’Hawks bowed their backs after intermission and got back into the game. They were a turnover away from getting within a touchdown before Maumelle turned the tide enough in the fourth quarter to escape with a 40-30 win.
The ’Hawks suffered four turnovers in the early going, at one point allowing the Hornets three straight possessions when two consecutive kicks were fumbled by the Pea Ridge return teams which resulted in keeping the offense off the field for a long time.
Things started badly for the ’Hawks when Maumelle scored on a long passing play on the game very first play. The score came only 17 seconds into the game for a 7-0 lead. Two plays after that, the ’Hawks lost the ball on an interception. However, the defense stepped up and forced the Hornets to punt after three plays. Looming large was lineman Mike Mahoney who stopped the elusive Hornet running backs cold on a key play.
After fielding a punt to start offense on the ’Hawk 17, Carson Rhine ripped off two runs for 6 and 7 yards for a first down on the ’Hawk 30. Facing a second and 6 moments later, Tate Busey bulled forward for enough yardage to move the chains, getting a first down in the ’Hawk 40.
Rhine then popped a 10 yarder for another first down. Rhine then rushed for 7 more and when Busey hooked up with freshman Trevor Blair for 11 yards, the ’Hawks were in Maumelle territory at the 46.
However a fumble cost them a yard, and a short run by Busey and short pass to Hunter Raines was offset by a motion penalty and the ’Hawks had to punt with punter Busey masterfully kicking down to the Maumelle 4-yard line.
Tristan Brewer and Justin Koon stopped Hornet ball carriers after short gains, and when Jake Adams broke up a pass play, Maumelle was forced to punt. However, the punt was mishandled and Hornets regained possession near mid-field at their own 46. After an initial first down play to the ’Hawk 35, the homeboys were looking at a third and 24 from the ’Hawk 46. One of Maumelle’s fleet receivers got lose to catch a pass and run to the ’Hawk 3. A 3-yard run later and Maumelle was leading 13-0 with 11 minutes in the half.
More bad news rained down on the ’Hawks when the kickoff was fumbled, handing the ball right back to the charged up Hornets. Though only needing 35 yards to score, the ’Hawk defense was stout, forcing Maumelle to execute 10 plays to get to pay dirt. It was all rushing plays with the final 6-yard run with 7:27 left in the half lifting the hometown advantage to 20-0.
Two fumbles, while not becoming turnovers, lost 12 yards and forced Pea Ridge to punt with 5 minutes left. The ’Hawk defense was unyielding, allowing just 4 yards to their 5A foes thus getting the ball back on a punt to the Maumelle 34.
Samuel Beard opened the next series with a 3-yard run with Busey following that up with an 18-yarder with Rhine busting through for 10 yards for a first down on the Hornet 3. A short run by Rhine got Pea Ridge close with a 2-yard power run by Busey getting the ’Hawks into the end zone. Luis Reyes’ PAT kick was true, cutting the lead to 20-7 with 2:12 left.
A 7-yard run by Maumelle was followed up by a 58-yard passing play to boost the host lead to 27-7.
The ’Hawks were undeterred, starting from their own 29. A second down 30-yard pass from Busey to Blair netted 30 yards to the Maumelle 41. Busey passes of 5 and 9 yards to first Blair then to Raines along with a penalty against the Hornets gave the ’Hawks a first down on the Maumelle 14. Down to the half’s final few seconds, a holding call pushed the ’Hawks back and with the clock ticking down to zero, a long ’Hawk pass was picked off by a fleet Hornet defensive back and returned 85 yards the other way to score once more. The touchdown made it 33-7 at intermission.
The ’Hawks came out determined to make atones for first half mistakes, and atone they did.
Rhine slashed through for 4 yards with Busey sweeping left for 12 more and a first down on the ’Hawk 44. Busey put a charge into the ’Hawk faithful by breaking loose for a 47-yard jaunt to the Maumelle 9-yard line. Rhine’s subsequent 4-yard run on first down was offset by a 5-yard penalty on the next play. Rhine nearly went to the house on a 9-yarder, and facing a fourth and 1, the ’Hawks bunched up and helped push Busey across the final inches as he scored with 8:48 showing in the third, making the deficit a bit closer at 33-14.
Reyes kicked off all the way to the goal line with excellent ’Hawk coverage miring the Hornets back on their own 7. A pass and run gave Maumelle a first down on the 17 but two plays later, swarming ’Hawk defense stripped the ball from the Hornet ball carrier to give the ball to Pea Ridge at the 22.
The ’Hawks could not move the ball, but Reyes narrowed the score anyway with an outstanding 40yard field goal with 6:00 left in the third period. Maumelle still led, however, by a 33-17 count.
On the Hornets’ next series, the ’Hawks limited them to just one first down, eventually getting the ball back on their own 31. A 6-yard run by Busey, a 15yard interference penalty against Maumelle and a 24 -yard dash by Rhine put the ’Hawks in business on the Hornet 25-yard line. However, a holding call and quarterback sack derailed the ’Hawks and they had to punt facing fourth and 19 from the 34. Busey’s punt was a beauty, going out of bounds at the Maumelle 3.
The Hornets couldn’t get traction and were forced to kick it right back after three plays. Beard had two runs totalling 28 yards to get the ’Hawks down to the Hornet 15yard line but a mishandled snap led to a fumble covered by the hosts, ending the ’Hawk threat.
Two plays later, Jake Adams read a pass play perfectly and came down with an interception deep in Pea Ridge territory. The referees waved him off, deciding to call it an incompletion, thus giving the ball back to the Hornets. Two plays later, a Hornet back was sprung down the sidelines, dashing 55 yards to score. A good PAT kick ballooned the Maumelle lead to 40-17 with 9:39 left in the game.
Starting from their own 28, the ’Hawks used passing then running to set up a final 20-yard pass from Busey to Brayden Ralph to score the ’Hawks’ third touchdown. Raines hauled in passes of 32 and 9 yards with Blair catching a 5-yarder for a first down on the Hornet 27.
Rhine ripped off runs of 8 and 12 yards to get Pea Ridge close at the Maumelle 7 but a busted play and a 10-yard holding call pushed Pea Ridge back to the 20-yard
line. No matter as Busey connected with a sprinting Brayden Ralph across the end zone for the score. Reyes’ kick made it 40-23 with 7:46 left in the game.
Tristan Brewer started the defensive series by dropping a Hornet ball carrier for a 3-yard loss and when Maumelle faced a fourth and 6 on the ’Hawk 31, Brewer chased the quarterback to the sidelines where he flung a futile pass out of bounds, thus giving the ball back to Pea Ridge.
Busey then flipped passes of 11 and 27 yards to ignite a drive to the Maumelle 31. Busey gained 2 on a short run, then threaded a pass to Blair who grabbed it in a crowd for a first down on the Maumelle 3. Two players later saw Beard burst up the middle for 5 yards and a score. Reyes’ kick with less than two minutes left made the final score 40-30
Busey led the offense with 209 unofficial yards on 12 of 21 passing. Blair led the receivers with 98 yards on seven catches, with Raines catching five throws for 57 yards with Ralph (20) and Galbraith (27) catching one apiece.
Busey also led the ground attack, picking up 85 yards on 13 totes unofficially, with Rhine racking up 72 yards on 13 attempts while Beard chipped in with 39 with six carries.
The ’Hawks will be off next week, with the young team to prepare for their final non-league tune-up with Farmington a week from Friday.