GRAVETTE — Speedster Michael Croasdell turned the tide for Gravette with touchdown runs of 83 and 25 yards and unbeaten Gravette turned back Gentry’s 1-4A upset bid Friday night, taking a 30-17 victory against the Pioneers.

Croasdell, who gained 178 yards on 16 carries, broke free up the middle on third-and-16 from the 17 for an 83-yard sprint to the end zone to tie the game at 14 early in the third quarter.

He later took a pitch to the right sideline from the 25, reversed field and scored for a 28-17 lead.

Gentry, behind the hot hand of quarterback Caleb Ramsey, had Gravette down 14-0 early in the second quarter.

“Gentry came and played lights out,” Gravette coach Bill Harrelson said. “The way Caleb was passing, I don’t think they dropped one the first half. When you’ve got somebody doing that, it’s tough.”

Gravette wideout Darrick Strzelecki gave the Lions (5-0, 2-0) their first lead of the game, scoring on a 10-yard end-around with 4:25 left in the third quarter.

“We got off to a great startand that was encouraging,” Gentry coach Brian Little said. “It’s very frustrating to end up like this after we were getting the offense going and our defense was giving us a chance.

“Tonight, it looked like they were maybe off a little bit. We had some poor tackling and gave up some drives.”

Tied at 14, Gentry’s Robbie White kicked a 39-yard field goal to put the Pioneers back on top 17-14. It was set up by Ethan Ramsey’s interception return of Colton Davis to the 19.

Gentry (1-4, 0-2) had Gravette down 14-0 early in the second quarter after forcing the Lions threeand-out on their first three possessions.

They went up 14-0, aided by two tough receptions. Robert Henderson laid out on fourth-and-8 for a 17-yard gain to the 8. There, Gravette’s Nathan Ortman batted at a pass to Gentry’s Kevin Scherer at the goal line. The ball went up and fell into Scherer’s arms in the end zone.

The Lions, by then inspired by newfound urgency, kick-started their offense and drove 75 yards in 11 plays, aided by a 20-yard pick up by Moorman and a pass interference call on Gentry to the 13.

At the 8, Moorman carried on an option to his right and saw three Pioneers in waiting at the 12. He bolted back to his left. He made a bee-line, angling to the flag for a touchdown.

Gravette had 18 first downs to 14 for Gentry and amassed 364 total yards offense (313 on the ground) to 145 for the Pioneers who had 130 yards in the air.

Gravette quarterbacks completed 8 of 13 passes with 1 interception compared to 13 of 31 for Gentry.

Moorman had 34 yards in the air, Davis 17, with Strzelecki receiving 4 for 47, Hendren 2 for 14 and Eden 1 for 5.

Montee was a perfect 4 for 4 in extra points.

The Huntsville Eagles will come to Lion Field this Friday night fresh from their victory over the Berryville last Friday.

NOTES: Gentry acknowledged the death of Gravette junior Casey Russell in the pre-game prayer and with a yellow ribbon in the game program, the words, “In loving memory #56” and Scripture.

Sports, Pages 10 on 10/07/2009