Prairie Grove Runs 4A-1 Table

TIGERS REPEAT AS CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS

GRAVETTE — The Prairie Grove Tigers (9-1, 7-0) wrapped up their regular season on Friday with a 28-7 victory over the Gravette Lions.

The win gives Prairie Grove the outright 4A-1 title and caps off the Tigers’ second consecutive undefeated conference slate.

Despite the three-touchdown win, the Tigers had their struggles against the Lions. While Prairie Grove was able to eclipse 412 yards on offense, they had two drives stall in the red zone. On defense the Tigers allowed the Lions to accumulate 312 yards of offense, however, Prairie Grove was also able to squelch a pair of potential scoring drives by Gravette.

“It was not pretty,” said Tigers’ coach Danny Abshier. “It was kind of an odd night. There was some weird stuff on both sides of the ball. We didn’t finish off some stuff and Gravette played hard.”

“It may not have been the prettiest win, but it was a win.”

The backfield duo of J.D. Speed and Nick Sugg both turned in sterling performances on offense. Each back eclipsed the century mark and both scored two touchdowns. Speed led the team with 166 yards on 15 carries, while Sugg tallied 131 yards on 13 totes.

On defense Jack Reynolds had seven tackles and one sack, while Brandon Nodier, Connor West and Jamison Huckaby all finished with six tackles apiece. Huckaby, as well as Jacob Storlie and Aaron Price, contributed to the defensive effort with two fumble recoveries and interception, respectively.

A good opening kickoff return by Bobby Catt gave the Tigers the ball at the Lions’ 45-yard line. Then, on the first play from scrimmage, Sugg took an inside handoff 55 yards for a touchdown. Clammond Gautreau booted the P.A.T to make the score 7-0. Gautreau converted all four of his extra-point attempts in the contest.

On Prairie Grove’s next series Sugg capped off a 55-yard drive with a 24-yard touchdown run that put the Tigers up 14-0 with 6:50 left in the opening period. The Lions countered with an 80-yard drive on the ensuing series which was concluded with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Wyatt Banta to Cody Heaton which cut the Tiger lead to 14-7.

Early in the second quarter, Huckaby recovered a Lion fumble at the Gravette 23-yard line. On the first play following the fumble, Speed took a hand-off and weaved his way for a 23-yard touchdown and a 21-7 Prairie Grove advantage.

The Tigers had a pair of scoring opportunities fizzle in the Lions’ red zone (inside the twenty yard line) later in the contest, however Speed finished off an 84-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown on a sweep over the right side early in the fourth period giving Prairie Grove a 28-7 advantage.

The Tigers open the 4A playoffs this Friday with a home matchup against the Pulaski Robinson Senators. The Senators are the fifth place team from the 4A-7 conference and finished the regular season with a 6-4 record. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

COURTESY PHOTO Nick Sugg fights off a Gravette tackle with a stiff-arm. Sugg ran for two touchdowns as the Tigers beat the Lions, 28-7, on Friday to claim their second consecutive conference crown.