Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Junior Tigers Battle Back Into Contention
PRAIRIE GROVE — With two weeks to go in the season, Prairie Grove has battled back into first place among 4A-1 junior high teams after defeating Gentry, 30-0, on Thursday.
The win came on the heels of a come- from- behind 20-16 squeaker on the road at Pea Ridge the week before and a 30-14 victory over Shiloh Christian on Oct. 9. Since Prairie Grove began the month with a frustrating 18-8 loss at home to Gravette on Oct. 4, the junior Tigers have won three straight.
Prairie Grove was among three teams tied for first all with identical 7-1 records after Thursday. Gravette and Pea Ridge also sported similar marks but Prairie Grove coach John Elder noted neither has played Shiloh yet.
“We’ve got a shot at the conference title but we need Shiloh to beat Gravette and we need to win out,” John Elder said. “If Shiloh beats Gravette and we win out we will be sitting all alone by ourselves in first place.”
The junior Tigers visit Berryville on Thursday and close out the season against U. S. 62 rival, Lincoln, at home on Nov. 6. Meanwhile Gravette plays Shiloh on Thursday and the Saints get their shot at Pea Ridge on Nov. 6.
The junior Tigers scored twice in the first quarter playing Shiloh in Springdale on Oct. 9. Anthony Johnson ran for an 11- yard touchdown, then Aaron Preston followed up with a 22-yard scoring run. Neither extrapoint try succeeded and the junior Tigers led 12-0 after the first period.
In the second quarter Prairie Grove quarterback John David Elder was on target finding Stone Bryant for a 22- yard touchdown pass extending the margin to 18-0 at the half. Shiloh threw for a touchdown and tacked on a 2-point conversion in the third quarter but Prairie Grove offset that with Dustin Burton’s 11-yard touchdown rush. Again the conversion failed and Prairie Grove owned a 24- 8 lead at the close of the third.
In the fourth quarter, Shiloh scored another touchdown via the pass but this time Prairie Grove stopped their point-after attempt and added John David Elder’s 5-yard touchdown carry for the final 30-14 score.
“We had no extra- point conversions. That was the only thing I was upset about in this game was that we didn’t convert one extrapoint,” John Elder said.
A week later the junior Tigers had their hands full at Pea Ridge. Preston scored from a yard out and the junior Tigers added a 2- point conversion. Pea Ridge did the same and the first quarter ended in an 8-8 gridlock. In the second stanza Preston broke off a 50-yard touchdown run but the extra-point failed and Pea Ridge scored on a 2-yard run then converted for 2 points to lead, 16-14.
Neither team scored in the third quarter and Prairie Grove faced the deficit and a Pea Ridge drive early in the final frame. The junior Tiger defense bent but did not break forcing the Blackhawks into a fourth down situation. Johnson got the ball back for the junior Tigers when he batted a pass down while defending in the secondary.
After the turnover on downs, Prairie Grove assumed possession of the football with about six and a half minutes remaining in the game. Pea Ridge fought to hold the lead and Prairie Grove found themselves in an unenviable fourth and 17. At that point coach John Elder put the ball in his son John David Elder’s hands and asked him to make a play and the freshman quarterback came through.
“John David throws a long pass to [tight end] DeMarkus Cooper and he gets it. That got us a first down,” John Elder said.
Prairie Grove was inside the Blackhawks’ 10 after converting on fourth down and ran the ball three straight times without getting in the end zone against a stubborn Pea Ridge defensive unit. John Elder again called his son’s number on fourth down and the young man was strong of heart and did an exploit passing to Burton for a 3-yard go-ahead touchdown with less than half a minute to go.
“On fourth down we ran a play-action pass that John David threw to Dustin Burton to get a touchdown,” John Elder said. “That was a big one [winning] at Pea Ridge.”
The junior Tigers did not convert the extra-point yet led, 20-16, and kicked off to Pea Ridge giving the Blackhawks one last chance but Prairie Grove rose to the challenge on defense.
“They threw a long pass. Anthony Johnson intercepted it and sealed the game for us,” John Elder said.