Wolves wear down Pioneers

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

— Though the game remained close in the first half, the Blackhawks continued to hold the Pioneers scoreless while picking up momentum with a back-to-back pair of touchdowns in the third quarter.

Pea Ridge’s Dayton Winn got loose for a 67-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter and the Blackhawks converted a Gentry turnover into another score less than 30 seconds later en route to a 25-0 victory over Gentry in 4A-1 Conference football Friday night.

Gentry coach Brian Little said the Blackhawks’ run-oriented attack puts pressure on the defense, particularly with a talented running back like Winn. He finally broke loose in the third quarter.

“Certainly that’s the way that scheme works,” Little said. “He’s a quality running back. But I was proud of our defense in the first half.”

The Pioneers (1-5, 0-3 4A-1) limited Winn to 66 yards on 18 carries in the first half and trailed only 7-0. But he more than doubled that total with his 67-yard run with 4 minutes, 35 seconds left in the third quarter.

He finished with 178 yards on 26 carries and two touchdowns and also intercepted a pass to help Pea Ridge remain undefeated.

But senior Braxton Caudill came up with the biggest play of the night for the Blackhawks (6-0, 3-0) less than 30 seconds later. Gentry quarterback Stone Faulkenberry was being rushed and tried to lateral in the backfield, but Caudill corralled the lateral and rambled 28 yards for a touchdown with 4:11 left in the third quarter for a 19-0 Pea Ridge lead.

Travis agreed that play by Caudill turned the tide.

“Once we got a little momentum, the kids fed off it a little bit,” Travis said. “Any time you score on defense. That’s a big play.

“We didn’t put many points on the board in the first half, but we kept their offense off the field. We got on the board at halftime with our offensive line and caught them slanting the right way for us.”

Little was pleased with his defense, but the offense must improve. The Pioneers offense was hampered since junior Jarod Cousins was still limited by an ankle injury. Cousinscaught three passes for short yardage at receiver.

“We played hard on defense, we just needed to come out in the second half and score, maybe even things up,” Little said. “It didn’t work out that way. But the youngster at quarterback, he’s growing. We’re gonna keep on keeping on.”

The Pioneers host Lincoln Friday for Gentry’s homecoming game.

4A-1 CONFERENCE PEA RIDGE 25, GENTRY 0 Pea Ridge 0 7 12 6 - 25 Gentry 0 0 0 0 - 0 Second Quarter Pea - Winn 1 run (DeLeon kick), 7:04.

Third Quarter Pea - Winn 67 run (Kick failed),

4:35. Pea - Caudill 28 fumble

return (Run failed), 4:11.

Fourth Quarter

Pea - Rapp 7 pass from Easter

ling (Kick failed), 9:11.

Pea Gent

First Downs 15 7 Rushes-Yards

45-219 14-7 Passing Yards 42

80 Comp-Att-Int 3-10-0 13-25-2

Punts 2-38 6-23.6 Fumbles-Lost

2-0 3-1 Penalties-Yards 6-75

6-80

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Pea Ridge, Winn

26-178, Easterling 6-28, Morgan

2-20, McClellan 3-8, Da. Winn

2-(minus-6), Gomez 3-(minus-

6), Ramsey 3-(minus-3. Gentry,

Beach 2-10, Brown 8-2, Faulken

berry 4-(minus-5). PASSING

2-80. RECEIVING - Pea Ridge,

Rapp 2-39, Winn 1-3. Gentry,

Brown 4-25, Stoufflet 3-36,

Cousins 2-3, Haag 1-7, Beach

1-5, Bryant 1-2, Xiong 1-2.

MISSED FIELD GOALS - None.

Sports, Pages 9 on 10/10/2012