Junior Tigers Bury Bobcats 30-6

PRAIRIE GROVE — With just one blemish on their record, the Prairie Grove junior Tigers (5-1, 3-1) appear to be rounding into an impressive football juggernaut.

A perfect example of Prairie Grove’s dominance came Oct. 17, when the Tigers blasted the Berryville Bobcats, 30-6, in a contest played at Prairie Grove’s Tiger Den Field.

Prairie Grove’s offense displayed both the ability to strike quickly, and the patience to grind out time- killing drives for touchdowns. That offensive prowess led to 253 total yards, with 189 yards of that coming from the Tiger’s patented ground attack highlighted by the thunder and lightning duo of Reed Orr and Anthony Johnson. Orr does most of his damage thundering between the tackles and accumulated 62 yards with two touchdowns against Berryville, while Johnson provided the lightning- quick speed on the edges which led to him tallying 100 yards which was good enough to lead all rushers in the contest.

As adept at running the ball as Orr and Johnson are, it is unfathomable to think they could accomplish that success without the sterling blocking efforts from the offensive line and wingback positions. Those efforts were recognized by Tigers’ coach John Elder after the contest when he said, “We have some guys really working hard up there, big Jack Stone; Zac Winters, at wingback; Dawson West, at center; Demarkus Cooper and Cole Speed at the tackles; Ethan Davis, Troy Sugg, Isaiah Williamson and Carl Simpson rotating at the guard positions, they all did a good job tonight.”

As pleased as Elder was with his offense, he was even more proud of his defensive unit which yielded a measly 63 yards of offense to Berryville, with 61 of those yards coming on one run.

“I was really proud of our defense. Except for that one big play, we didn’t hardly give up anything, it was just a great performance,” Elder said.

As potent as Prairie Grove’s offensive ground game is, it was through the air in which they drew first blood against the Bobcats. With the first quarter nearing completion, Tiger quarterback Zeke Laird rolled to his right and connected with Isaac Disney for a 41-yard touchdown strike. Orr pounded the rock over the goal on the 2-point try, making the score 8-0.

With 2:52 before the half, Orr capped off a 73-yard Tiger drive with a five-yard touchdown run. Johnson trotted in on the 2- point conversion, making the score 16- 0. The Bobcats countered with their only touchdown of the night when quarterback Jacob Graham found a seam for a 61-yard score, closing the gap to 16- 6. Prairie Grove quickly reclaimed momentum, when on their next series they drove 57 yards downfield culminating with a two-yard Orr touchdown with just 19 seconds before halftime. Winters crossed the goal on a reverse, bringing the score to 24-6.