Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lincoln Defeats Prairie Grove
PRAIRIE GROVE — Lincoln’s seventh grade football team overcame a mistake-prone scoreless first half to defeat Prairie Grove, 14-0, on Thursday, Sept. 25.
Prairie Grove also committed turnovers at crucial junctures that helped Lincoln prevent the Tigers from reaching the end zone. Lincoln’s Kaden Brewer, who plays free safety and linebacker, made an interception in the second half that changed momentum.
“That was a big play and we really needed it. It was just a shot in the arm,” said Lincoln coach Don Harrison.
Two plays later Lincoln was knocking on the door from the Tiger two. The Wolves lined up in their spread offense and found an opening with quarterback Bryson Karver passing to a Kaden Brewer, who slipped in for the go-ahead touchdown with 5:17 remaining in the second half. The read, throw and catch impressed their coach.
“He was actually supposed to throw it to the other side, but they left a guy (uncovered), an extra guy and he saw a better matchup,” Don Harrison said. “Bryson Karver, he’s come a long way. He’s always been able to throw the ball. Now, he’s starting to think the game. He’s starting to see the field, and when you start doing stuff like that it’s fun when you got a seventh grader.”
Immediately after the touchdown, Don Harrison called his quarterback over and asked why he threw the ball to the opposite side of which the play was called.
“Of course, I know the answer, but when he tells me the answer not only does he know it, but he goes out there and makes a great throw. It was awesome,” Don Harrison said.
Lincoln settled for a 6-0 lead when a pass failed on the conversion attempt.
Prairie Grove couldn’t move the chains and a simulated punt gave Lincoln possession near midfield at its own 44. On first down reserve tailback broke a 56-yard touchdown run.
Lincoln moved the ball into Tiger territory penetrating the red zone on its final drive, but on firstand-goal from the Tigers’ eight, Lincoln coach Don Harrison had quarterback take a knee and run out the clock rather than attempt to add another score.
“We really respect (Prairie Grove varsity head football) Coach (Danny) Abshier and his program and there was no reason to do that,” Don Harrison said. “But we had two chances down here in the first half and we didn’t cash in and made a couple of mistakes and they (Prairie Grove) played really well down in the red zone.”
According to Don Harrison there were a lot of great things the seventh grade squad did to win the game.
“The big play really for us in the third quarter was the interception and we got rolling, made a heckuva run down there. We had a third down and Payton Harrison made a heckuva catch and dove to get the first down to keep the drive going,” Don Harrison said. “That’s the great thing about this group. There’s a lot of guys that can make plays from Caleb Jones, to Bryson Karver, the quarterback; Payton Harrison, the wide receiver; Colton Christianson, another wide receiver; Kaden Brewer, every time he touches the ball something good happens so we got a lot of good playmakers in this group. They’re starting to learn their niche, they’re starting to learn where they’re supposed to be at and things like that. So, it’s a fun group to coach. There’s not many of them, but they work really hard.”
“We fumbled on our first series going into score inside the 20. That hurt,” said Prairie Grove coach Mason Pinkley. “Key penalties and turnovers was what got us beat. They (Lincoln) were pretty good, though.”