Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Tiger Defense Metes Out Lesson In Futility
TURNOVERS KEY TO 31-7 HOMECOMING VICTORY
PRAIRIE GROVE — Gravette advances the football, the Lions turn over the football, then Prairie Grove scores, such was the pattern for the Tigers’ 31-7 Homecoming victory Friday.
The recipe for disaster frustrated Gravette’s offense, which out-rushed Prairie Grove, 241 to 172. The Lions led by runningback Austin O’Brien (28 carries, 210 yards, 1 touchdown) repeatedly moved into the red zone and repeatedly lost the ball.
“We had four interceptions, we recovered a fumble. That was pretty nice,” said Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier. “That gave us some chances back. If that hadn’t been the case it would have been a different score.”
On their opening series O’Brien ran for 10 yards to the Tiger 48 on fourth-andone, but an illegal motion penalty backed Gravette up into their own territory and there they stayed. Stone Bryant deflected a pass bringing up fourth down and Gravette punted.
Prairie Grove went threeand-out and kicked the ball back to the Lions. Gravette moved the ball 28 yards to the Tiger 33, but Prairie Grove middle linebacker Dustin Burton wrested the ball out-of-the-hands of a runner. The Tigers capitalized on the turnover by driving 67 yards in 8 plays for a touchdown to break into the scoring column on J.D. Elder’s 35-yard pass to Stone Bryant. Ben Beason’s kick made the score 7-0 with 1:51 showing on the first quarter clock.
That set a dangerous precedent Gravette would live to regret and the scenario played out in each quarter.
Early in the second quarter, Gravette had a first down at the Tiger 13. On first down, Collin Bryant wrapped up the ankles of Lion quarterback Tajae White on a keeper running wide. Clay Spinks and Burton combined to stop White on second down. On third-and-10, White threw while running left but couldn’t get the ball past J.D. Elder’s long arms. J.D. Elder snagged an interception at the left hashmark killing a promising Lion march.
Prairie Grove sustained an 10-play, 88-yard foray, getting a 39-yard catch and run by Stone Bryant. The Tigers got a key fourth down completion with J.D. Elder passing to tight end DeMarkus Cooper for 10 yards. Anthony Johnson capped the drive with an 8-yard burst into the end zone. The kick missed and the Tigers settled for a 13-0 lead at the 5:14 mark of the second.
Gravette only had the ball three plays before throwing another interception. Stone Bryant picked off an underthrown pass on a deep drop by White. Prairie Grove took over at their own 35 and moved into Lion territory at the 40 where the drive stalled. Gravette again marched deep into Tiger turf with O’Brien running for 16 yards to the Prairie Grove 26. Beason stuffed O’Brien on the next play bringing up second-and-eight. White was picked off by Collin Bryant, who stepped in front of a receiver near the right pylon to make the catch in the end zone.
With the touchback, Prairie Grove took a knee from the 20 and the teams went into the halftime break with Prairie Grove leading, 13-0.
On the third play of the third quarter, Collin Bryant hauled in a 66-yard touchdown pass from J.D. Elder to give the Tigers a 19-0 cushion.
The teams traded punts, then Gravette once more fashioned a lengthy drive, going 48 yards in 7 plays aided by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. On first-and-goal from the 10, Bailey Soule’ ran to the five. Beason dropped O’Brien for a 3-yard loss on a run off left tackle. Prairie Grove defensive end Ethan Guenther penetrated the backfield disrupting a sweep by pushing the blocker into O’Brien’s path. O’Brien reversed field and ran to the one, but Guenther’s charge drew a holding penalty against the Lions setting up third-and-goal from the 25.
Stone Bryant nailed the lid shut on Gravette’s drive with another interception, making a spectacular one-handed grab while falling down. Prairie Grove then mounted a 97-yard touchdown march capped by J.D. Elder’s 76-yard pass to Stone Bryant on the first play of the fourth quarter. He caught the ball running full speed at the 50 as the defensive back fell and never looked back. The score pushed Prairie Grove’s lead to 25-0.
Gravette’s next possession ended at the Tiger 48 when Cooper nearly intercepted a screen pass with a bullrush on fourth-and-13. The end result was just as effective for the Tigers with an incompletion and turnover on downs. Prairie Grove needed only six plays to go 52 yards. J.D. Elder ran the option and held the ball until pitching at the last possible moment to Johnson, who sailed in for the 12-yard score upping the Tiger advantage to 31-0 with 6:43 remaining.
O’Brien scored on a 3-yard run to erase the goose egg from the scoreboard for Gravette, but Prairie Grove ran out the clock bolstered by J.D. Elder’s 23-yard pass completion to James Mayers.
Abshier praised the play of J.D. Elder, son of assistant coach, John Elder, noting J.D. Elder had 100 percent completions in two-straight games coming into Friday. Against Gravette, J.D. Elder completed 8 of 12 passes for 286 yards and 3 touchdowns.
“With Gravette’s extremely solid run defense that’s what we needed tonight. J.D. handled it again tonight,” Abshier said. “The first half was a little rough, then we got it on target.”