Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Tigers Stake Claim For Conference Lead
PRAIRIE GROVE — After a wild start with long scoring runs by both teams, defenses on both sides made stops to slow down the scoring and Prairie Grove outlasted Farmington, 27-21.
The Tigers had completely different results on their first two offensive plays. After Weston Bartholomew fumbled and Farmington’s Matt Brackett recovered leading to Spencer Boudrey’s breakway 35-yard touchdown run, Bartholomew redeemed himself by taking the ball 65 yards for a touchdown on the next play from scrimmage.
“It took a little while for us. At times, we were kind of outhinking ourselves,” said Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier.
Brennan Warren halted a Tiger drive with a strong reaction to bring down Weston Bartholomew on fourth-and-three at the Farmington 28. The Cardinals then reeled off 12 plays but Colby Elkins intercepted the ball for Prairie Grove and returned it to the Tigers’ 45yard line and the first quarter ended in a 7-7 tie.
The drive continued as Connor West recovered a Tiger fumble and Prairie Grove retained possession. Cooper Winters finished off the drive by scoring on an 18-yard quarterback keeper. Landon Allen booted the point-after and Prairie Grove led 14-7.
A punt backed the TIgers up and their next possession started at their own 6. After picking up one first down, Chris Sims had a tackle for a loss and Flint Oxford held Winters to 4 yards on a keeper, setting up third-and-9 from the Tiger 18. Winters was intercepted by Brackett, who showed his athletic ability by tap dancing down the sideline for a touchdown. The play was called back by a block in the back.
Moved back to the 39 by the penalty, Farmington scored anyway. Austin found Boudrey for 7 yards, and Brackett on the sideline for 18 yards, then threw to Michael Ingram on a wide receiver screen for the 14-yard touchdown. The kick failed and Prairie Grove led 14-13 at intermission.
Farmington took the second-half kickoff and drove inside the red zone but were hampered by a block in the back penalty that negated a pass that would have placed the ball at the Tiger 10-yard line.
Elkins then came up with an interception and Prairie Grove drove 99 yards in 5 plays, getting 31-yard runs from Elkins and Bartholomew, who scored. Allen added the extra-point and Prairie Grove led 21-13.
“We didn’t make real good reads and we got picked,” said Farmington coach Mike Adams, who also noted early in the game the Cardinals missed tackles which hurt.
Jon Halbert saved a touchdown by tackling Josh Blew on the kickoff return which electrified the Farmington fans. They had even more to cheer about on the next play when Adams pulled one out of his hat and the Tigers were scored on by a flea-flicker. Brackett lined up at wide receiver and took a reverse handoff, then threw to Ingram, who shook off a defender and ran in for the touchdown. Boudrey’s catch for the 2-point conversion pass from Austin tied the game, at 21-all.
Prairie Grove then responded with a touchdown drive going 58 yards in 6 plays to regain the lead on Bartholomew’s 9-yard run at the 5:38 mark of the third quarter. The extra-point failed leaving Prairie Grove with a 27-21 lead and the Tiger defense came up big.
Farmington drove to the Tiger 6 but Dalton Faulk and Jacob Kahl stopped Boudrey for no gain leading to an incomplete pass on fourthdown. The Cardinals were back knocking on the door again after a punt but Brandon Nodier and Brandon Taylor stopped a run. Halbert intercepted a pass and Prairie Grove took 5:21 off the clock before punting, only to get the ball right back with another Halbert pick on first-down.
Again the Tigers could not run out the clock and Farmington had one last chance with 1:12 to go but again gave up the ball on another interception, this time by Nick Sugg.
“Halbert got better as the game went on,” Abshier said. “He was getting ready to intercept that last pass when Nick Sugg sealed it for us.”
Farmington celebrates Homecoming this week against Berryville on Friday. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Prairie Grove takes on a U.S. 62 rival for the second consecutive week, at Lincoln on Friday, at 7 p.m.