Tigers Bury Bobcats

PRAIRIE GROVE EXTENDS CONFERENCE WINNING STREAK TO 11

PRAIRIE GROVE — The Prairie Grove Tigers (6-1, 4-0) traveled to Carroll County on Friday to face the Berryville Bobcats and when the final buzzer sounded the score read Prairie Grove 35, Berryville 12.

The Tigers know how to score touchdowns. They can abuse defenders on the ground with a multitude of able runners, punish defenses through the air with a deft passing attack, their parasitic defense devours turnovers and turns them into points on the scoreboard and their special teams can crush an opponent’s will in a blink of the eye.

Against the Bobcats it seemed as if the Tigers started scoring touchdowns as soon as they stepped off the bus. In reality Prairie Grove did all of their scoring in the opening period, hanging 35 points on the board before the clock could run out in the first quarter. A touchdown on special teams, a touchdown on defense, then three ridiculously long scoring runs allowed the Tigers to set the cruise control for the remainder of the game, while allowing their reserves to gain valuable playing time.

After forcing the Bobcats to punt on their first series, the Tigers leapt into action, scoring their first touchdown when Logan Bartholomew fielded the punt, then sprinted 59 yards to the end zone. J. D. Speed tacked on the extra point, giving the Tigers a 7-0 lead.

Speed utilized both legs (and his hands) on Berryville’s next possession when he intercepted a Bobcat pass and then took his pilfered prize 35 yard for a touchdown. The interception and return for a touchdown by Speed, was the fourth time in as many weeks that the Tigers have pulled off a pick six against an opposing offense. Speed added the P. A.T., which inflated the Grover’s lead to 14-0.

Berryville punted on their next series, giving the Tigers the ball at their own 45 yard line. Three plays later Nick Sugg gashed the Bobcat defense with a 48-yard touchdown run. Clammond “Frenchy” Gautreau booted the extra point, making the score 21-0.

The Bobcats again punted on their next possession, placing Prairie Grove at the 36. This time it only took the Tigers two plays to find pay dirt, when Bobby Catt raced past the Berryville defense for a 58-yard touchdown. Gautreau split the uprights on the conversion, swelling the score to 28-0 with 2:53 left in the opening period.

Prairie Grove took possession of the football one last time in the opening stanza when the Bobcats punted the ball to the 22 with 1:00 left on the clock. That was plenty of time for Bartholomew, who took the first play of that series 78 yards, nearly untouched for a touchdown. Gautreau stayed perfect on P.A.T’s for the night which inflated the Prairie Grove advantage to 35-0. When all was said and done after the first period, the Tigers had accumulated 197 yards of offense on just five running plays (six plays in the first quarter total).

Prairie Grove’s first team offensive deservedly remained on the sidelines for the rest of the first half, while the defensive unit kept the Bobcats out of the end zone until intermission. That defensive unit was equally as dominant against Berryville as the offensive squad was. In the first half the Bobcats ran 31 plays yet only amassed 21 yards, while also giving up the interception to Speed.

After halftime with the continuously running “mercy-rule” clock rapidly ticking away the seconds and the Prairie Grove starters resting comfortably on the sidelines while the reserves finished mop-up duty, the Bobcats were able to muster a pair of scoring drives which brought the final score to 35-12.

The Tigers will celebrate senior night on Friday when they host the Pea Ridge Blackhawks in their final regular season home game. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.