Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Prairie Grove Wins Homecoming Game
PRAIRIE GROVE CELEBRATES HOMECOMING WITH 31-7 WIN
PRAIRIE GROVE — On a night Gravette rushed for 241 yards on 42 carries, Prairie Grove rewrote what has been their traditional script for winning.
Gravette’s superb runner Austin O’Brien carried the load, running 28 times for 210 yards. Yet, he was able to find the end zone only once. The Lions turned the ball over five times, losing possession in Tiger territory on four occaisions, including Collin Bryant’s interception in the end zone to kill a drive at the end of the first half. Another pick occurred inside the 10 with J.D. Elder snagging a Lion pass.
“Their running back O’Brien just ran ‘til he was about out of gas, and he did a good job getting yards for them,” said Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier. “Just fortunately our defense was able to make some stops down in our end to help us out.”
Prairie Grove defended by committee. Middle linebacker Dustin Burton ripped the ball out of the hands of a Gravette runner ending a promising drive at the Tiger 33 with the game still scoreless with 5:15 remaining in the first period. The Tigers marched the other way moving 67 yards in 9 plays. J.D. Elder’s 35-yard touchdown toss to Stone Bryant culminated the drive.
Early in the second quarter an O’Brien 11-yard run had the Lions knocking on the door at Prairie Grove’s 13, but J.D. Elder picked off a throw near the five and returned the ball out to the 12.
Prairie Grove took full advantage of the momentum swing by traveling the length of the field in 10 plays capped by Anthony Johnson’s 8-yard touchdown carry. The score put Prairie Grove ahead, 13-0. Three plays later Stone Bryant made his first interception.
The Tigers began at their own 35. Although they turned the ball over on downs after fumbling on fourth-down a valuable 2:08 had elapsed. Gravette had an opportunity and three O’Brien carries brought them to the Tiger 24. With time running down in the first half, White attempted another pass that was intercepted in the end zone by Collin Bryant, twin brother of Stone Bryant, with 10 seconds left in the second.
That allowed the Tigers to burn the clock and take a 13-0 lead into halftime.
Sensing the Lions’ frustration, Prairie Grove went for the jugular on the opening series of the third quarter. On third-and-11, J.D. Elder threw deep to Collin Bryant, who made the catch behind the Lions’ secondary and ran for a 66-yard touchdown,
“They had mistakes to get frustrated, I could tell they were frustrated,” Abshier said, while admitting, “At times, I could see we were getting frustrated. Both teams played hard. Our defense played well.”
Gravette stayed hopeful after the Tigers failed to convert and fought an uphill battle, trailing 19-0, but yet one more foray into Tiger territory ended in futility. Second-and-goal from the Tiger five morphed into third-and-goal from the 25 after a blatant holding penalty. Forced to throw, White put the ball in the air with the same result.
Stone Bryant got a bead on the ball and made his second interception falling to the turf at the three. Flipping the field was an understatement. The Tigers went 97 yards the other way in lightening fashion with Elder connecting with Stone Bryant on another deep route for a 76-yard touchdown as the fourth quarter began.
White nearly had a fifth pass intercepted courtesy of Prairie Grove defensive lineman DeMarkus Cooper, whose bull rush put him in the backfield within inches of getting his hands on a screen pass that fell incomplete on fourth-and-13. Taking over at their own 48, the Tigers put the final chapter in the script with a 6-play, 52-yard touchdown drive. Johnson administered the coup-de-grace with a 12-yard touchdown run with 6:43 left in the game.
O’Brien had runs of 14, 22, and 8 before capping Gravette’s final drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to get the Lions on the scoreboard. Chris Childress kicked the extra-point, but the Lions wouldn’t get the ball back and lost 31-7.