Burnett, Moorman help Gravette to end Pea Ridge winning streak

Photo by Annette Beard The Gravette Lions line up against their host team, the Pea Ridge Blackhawks, on Friday night.
Photo by Annette Beard The Gravette Lions line up against their host team, the Pea Ridge Blackhawks, on Friday night.

PEA RIDGE -- Jordan Burnett ran for 125 yards and two touchdowns as Gravette ended Pea Ridge's 15-game regular season win streak with a 22-12 victory on Friday night.

The win comes a week after the Lions (4-2, 2-1 1-4A Conference) lost 44-19 at Prairie Grove, a game in which quarterback Bryce Moorman was forced to exit late after suffering a crushing hit in the pocket.

Moorman returned on Friday, putting the finishing touches on the surprising win with a late 36-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Soule' to put Gravette up 15-6. The senior was 12-of-14 passing for 131 yards and the one touchdown, with Soule' finishing with seven catches for 85 yards.

Both teams added late touchdowns after that, but the outcome was already clear -- with Gravette's game plan of ball control and a steady dose of Burnett and Moorman working to perfection as the Lions capped their dramatic one-week turnaround.

"That was awesome," said Gravette coach Bill Harrelson. "I don't know where that came from, but I know this: I know we've had a lot of quarterbacks play well, but I don't know if we've ever had one play better than Bryce Moorman.

"He came back out and showed what he's made of, showed his toughness."

Pea Ridge (4-1, 2-1) hadn't lost a regular season game since the final contest of the 2013 season against Berryville, going undefeated last year until a first-round playoff defeat.

Zaine Holley led the Blackhawks with 95 yards rushing on 27 carries on Friday night, but Pea Ridge was unable to overcome Gravette's ball-control approach in the first half -- one that limited the Blackhawks to only 15 plays in the half.

Quarterback Jakota Sainsbury finished 7 of 12 passing for 94 yards for the Blackhawks, rushing for one touchdown and throwing another to Hayden Holtgrewe with less than a minute remaining.

"Gravette really, really played keep away great in the first half," Pea Ridge coach Tony Travis said. "We never really could get in a rhythm on offense. They had us on our heels and outplayed us tonight."

Gravette controlled the ball -- and the game -- while taking a 2-0 halftime lead.

Against a Pea Ridge offense that entered the game averaging 47.2 points per game, the Lions held the Blackhawks scoreless in the first half and limited them to 48 yards of total offense on 15 plays.

The Lions moved the ball well in the half, with Moorman throwing for 80 yards and Burnett gaining 39 on 17 carries, but their only score came with 4:18 left in the half when a Pea Ridge snap sailed over the head of punter Bradley Beavers and through the back of the end zone.

After Pea Ridge briefly took a 6-2 lead in the third quarter on Sainsbury's touchdown run, Burnett responded two plays later with a 72-yard touchdown burst to put the Lions up 8-6.

Moorman followed with his touchdown pass to Soule', and Burnett added an 8-yard score with 1:04 remaining -- also recovering the final onside kick attempt by Pea Ridge to secure the win and his turnaround after being held to 26 yards rushing on 17 carries a week ago in Prairie Grove.

"It feels great," Burnett said. "We came out and were pumped, and the defense did a great job. We came out hard and just pounded it and pounded it."

4A-1 Conference

Gravette 22, Pea Ridge 12

Gravette 0 2 6 14 -- 22

Pea Ridge 0 0 6 6 -- 12

Second Quarter

Grav - Safety, 4:18.

Third Quarter

Pea - Sainsbury 1 run (kick failed), 2:58.

Grav - Burnett 72 run (kick failed), 2:05.

Fourth Quarter

Grav - Soule' 36 pass from Moorman (Childress kick), 5:44.

Grav - Burnett 8 run (Childress kick), 1:04.

Pea - Holtgrewe 12 pass from Sainsbury (pass failed), :33.

Sports on 10/14/2015