Junior Tigers Waylay Wolves

LINCOLN — The Prairie Grove Jr. Tigers (4-1, 2-1) completed the sweep of U.S. 62 opponents with a 42-14 win over the Lincoln Wolves (2-4, 1-2) on Oct. 10 at Lincoln.

The Tigers dispatched the Farmington Cardinals on Oct. 4, then despite falling behind the Wolves 8-0 in the first quarter, went on to score 36 unanswered points for the victory.

“That first quarter was kind of ugly for us,” said Tigers coach John Elder. “Then we started to block well and our offense started to get going.”

After stifling the Tigers on their opening series, the Wolves proceeded to march down the field for their first touchdown. Wolves’ quarterback Harrison Swayne capped off a 67-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown run, and Justin Nickles followed that with a sweep around the right side on the 2-point try making the score 8-0.

A 40-yard kickoff return by Zac Winters put the Tigers in Wolves’ territory at the 38, then on the second play of the second quarter, Anthony Johnson dashed 24 yards to the promised land. Winters added the 2-point conversion tying the score at 8-8.

A drastic swing of the momentum pendulum happened midway through the second period, when, after moving into the Tigers’ red zone, the Wolves turned over the football when Ethan Davis snagged an interception. On the first play by the Tigers following the pick, Johnson outraced the Wolves’ defense for an 85- yard touchdown run, making the score 14-8 Prairie Grove.

“That interception at the goal line was a pretty big turning point,” said Wolves’ coach Brad Harris. “I don’t think we ever recovered from that.”

Prairie Grove’s lead swelled to 22-8 with 5:11 to play in the third quarter, when Reed Orr rumbled 76 yards through the Wolves’ defense for a touchdown with Johnson adding the 2-point try.