Junior Wolves Shut Out Pea Ridge

FAKE PUNT USED TO RUN OUT CLOCK

LINCOLN — One week after a defensive lapse down the stretch cost the junior Wolves a win, Lincoln posted a 6-0 shutout against Pea Ridge with four solid quarters of effort.

“It was an outstanding performance by our defense,” said Lincoln head junior high coach Reed Mendoza. “After their first drive, I doubt they (Pea Ridge) had 50 yards of offense.”

On Sept. 28, in a defensive struggle, the junior Wolves produced enough offense to win, sustaining a drive to begin the third quarter capped by quarterback Tyler Brewer’s 2-yard touchdown run. Brewer connected on 12 of 18 passes for 67 percent completion rate which is close to his season average of 66 percent. The junior Wolves had 121 aerial yards and ran for 50 on 16 carries.

Pea Ridge harassed Brewer, sacking him five times for 34 yards in losses. Brewer was intercepted once and fumbled once. Lincoln had 137 yards of total offense, their lowest output of the season. Yet, Lincoln made plays when they had to.

“We had a touchdown to begin the third quarter,” Mendoza said. “Tyler carried it in. It was a good, sustained drive. Noe Avellanada (10 carries, 41 yards, 1 catch, 4 yards) had a couple of good runs. We had a couple of slants with Eli Rich (1 catch for 5 yards) and Levi Wright (2 catches for 38 yards) to position us for that touchdown.”

Mendoza praised Wright for making a catch in traffic which led to an important 25-yard gain to put the junior Wolves near the goal line.

“He caught it and rumbled to the one,” Mendoza said.

Brewer ran the ball in, but the conversion failed leaving Lincoln with a 6-0 lead. In the fourth quarter, Lincoln was able to run out the clock, something they weren’t able to accomplish while holding a 26-20 lead Sept. 21 against Gravette. The coaching staff prepared for that situation and the junior Wolves executed beautifully.

“At the end of the game we faced fourth-and-two, a situation similar to what we had against Gravette,” Mendoza said. “We had the lead, but we could have potentially given up the lead if we didn’t make it.”

Assistant coach Erwin Starts implemented a fake punt after the loss to Gravette and the special teams rehearsed it in practice. Avellanada took a handoff and ran for a first down and more.

“Noe took the fake about 30 yards to ice it,” Mendoza said.

Daytin Davis was the leading receiver for the junior Wolves with 7 catches for 67 yards. Cade Redfern added a single reception for 7 yards.

Prairie Grove’s 14-0 win over Gravette Sept. 29 allowed Lincoln back in the junior high conference race. Were all three teams to win out going into week 10, the 4A-1 junior high conference championship would have been determined by Gravette’s rivalry game against Gentry and the Prairie Grove at Lincoln contest.