Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Tigers Drop State Championship
PRAIRIE GROVE’S LEAD EVAPORATES IN SECOND HALF
LITTLE ROCK — Leonard Snell did what he wanted to do Saturday night, and Prairie Grove couldn’t do anything to stop him.
Nashville’s senior quarterback rushed for 230 yards and a state championship- record 6 touchdowns on 26 carries to help the Scrappers defeat Prairie Grove 39-20 in the Class 4A title game in front of 7,012 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
It was the second consecutive season Snell and the Scrappers ended Prairie Grove’s title hopes. Nashville defeated the Tigers in the second round last season and denied the Tigers again this season – which was the Tigers’ first championship game appearance.
“I’m glad he’s a senior,” Prairie Grove Coach Danny Abshier said. “It’s hard to tackle him. They’ve got a great scheme.”
Nashville’s offense was on the field for less than five minutes in the second quarter. The Scrappers trailed by a point at halftime, 20-19.
“We knew that we had to continue to do what we did in the first half,” Snell said. “I told my linemen to open up the holes and I’ll follow them through. We came out and executed.”
Senior running back Blake Faulk led Prairie Grove ( 12-2) with 135 yards and 2 touchdowns on 22 carries. His second-quarter touchdowns covered 1 and 5 yards. Dodd completed 7 of 20 passes for 99 yards and 1 touchdown, while senior tight end Dylan Soehner caught a 4-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.
Despite leading at halftime, Prairie Grove’s offense couldn’t keep the momentum in the second half as it was stopped on fourth down twice and turned over the ball once.
“We knocked on the door a couple of times,” Abshier said. “We couldn’t punch it in.”
It was Nashville’s fifth Arkansas Activities Association championship. Nashville last won the Class 4A state title in 2007, which capped
a three-year run of championships under former coach Billy Dawson.
The Scrappers scored the game’s final 20 points and limited the Tigers to 89 yards of offense in the second half.
Snell scored on runs of 5, 35, 5, 7, 14 and 34 yards and accounted for all of the Scrappers’ scoring as Nashville ( 15- 0) compiled 422 yards.
“When you’ve got a good horse, you run him,” Nashville Coach Mike Volarvich said of Snell, who finished the season with 3,775 all-purpose yards and 27 touchdowns. “He’s been our horse all year. What he did tonight is the same thing he’s done every game this year.
“Other games we’ve featured other people, but coming into this one we knew we were going to get on his shoulders and let him go. Where he went, we followed.”
On Prairie Grove’s first drive of the second half, Nashville senior strong safety Shaundell Scott intercepted senior quarterback Sam Dodd at the Tigers 37 and ran 4 yards to the 33. Two plays later, Snell scored from 7 yards out to give the Scrappers a 25-20 lead with 10:00 left in the third quarter.
After Nashville forced a three-and-out, Snell threw a 19-yard pass to senior wide receiver Andrew Hawthorne. One play later, Snell ran up the middle and flipped into the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown. A scoreboard replay appeared to show that Snell had fumbled the ball as he entered the end zone, but officials ruled a touchdown.
Nashville held Prairie Grove on downs at the Scrappers 6 with 9:03 left to play, then drove 94 yards in 14 plays over 6:40 to seal the victory. Nashville extended the drive on fourth and 2 from its own 31 when Snell rushed 5 yards for a first down. Eight plays later, Snell’s 34-yard run — his sixth and final touchdown of the game — stretched the lead to 39-20 with 2:23 left.