Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Junior Tigers Dispatch Wolves
LINCOLN — The Prairie Grove junior Tigers (2-0) and the Lincoln junior Wolves (1-1) will face each other twice in the 2014 season. On Thursday, they had their first meeting in a non-conference showdown held in Lincoln, and when the final buzzer sounded it was the Tigers who came out on top with the 36-24 victory.
The Tigers utilized a wellrounded attack, scoring on the ground, through the air, on defense and special teams.
“I’m pleased with our effort,” said Tigers’ coach John Elder. “We executed well and I thought we looked pretty sharp for the most part.”
The Tigers took an early 6-0 lead when John David Elder capped off a 64-yard opening drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Noah Moore. A fumble at their own 34 on Lincoln’s first possession resulted in a Prairie Grove touchdown after DeMarkus Cooper scooped the bounding pigskin and took it to the house. Aaron Preston crossed the goal on the 2-point try staking the Tigers to a 14-0 lead.
Lincoln’s offense picked up steam on their next series as the marched 60 yards, highlighted by Caleb Lloyd’s 52-yard touchdown run. Sterling Morphis passed to Jacob Anderson on the 2- point conversion which cut the lead to 14- 8. Prairie Grove countered with a 75-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown when Dustin Burton weaved his way 17 yards into the end zone. Elder successfully passed to Preston on the 2- point try swelling the lead to 22-8 with four ticks on the first quarter clock.
A muffed punt on Lincoln’s ensuing series was plucked out of the air by Ethan Scates, who then took it 26-yards for a touchdown. Burton crossed the goal on the 2-point conversion which increased the lead to 30-8. The Tigers added one more touchdown before the halftime break when Preston peeled off a 24- yard touchdown run, giving Prairie Grove the 36-8 lead with 1:05 left until intermission.
Lloyd reeled off a 40-yard touchdown run with 6: 07 left in the third frame and Morphis found Braden Umberson in the end zone on the 2- point try which cut the Tiger’s lead to 36-16. With 18 seconds left in the game Yue Phen Lee found pay dirt following a 52-yard run. Dawson Calico punched in the 2- point conversion making the final score 36-24.
“We got behind early and then tried to fight back the best we could, but Prairie Grove has a great team and program,” said Wolves’ coach Scott Davenport. “Our guys played hard all night, they kept fighting and we were able to put some points on the board late in the game which gives us something to build on.”
Prairie Grove’s offense was led by Preston who finished with 67 yards rushing and a touchdown and John David Elder who passed for 52 yards and a touchdown. Lincoln’s offense was paced by Lloyd, who led all rushers with 143 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Prairie Grove is home Thursday when the West Fork Tigers come to town, while the junior Wolves play host to the Cedarville
Pirates. Both contests are
set to start at 7 p.m.