PRAIRIE GROVE -- Gravette was forced to wage an uphill battle and was unable to match the aggressive play of Prairie Grove's junior high football squad, which won, 22-6, Thursday.
"They came out at us, it's all about physicality," said Gravette coach Duke Mobley. "Tonight, we were physical in spurts, but not all the time. They (Prairie Grove) do a great job getting them ready to play. Hopefully, we can pick up our physicality. That's what we're aiming for."
The junior Tigers chewed up most of the first quarter clock with a long, sustained drive deep into Gravette territory. At last, the junior Lions were able to get back-to-back tackles, combining for 11 yards in losses, and the drive ended when Prairie Grove turned the ball over on downs.
The drawback was poor starting field position for the junior Lions, who were shut out in the first half. Cade Grant set up a Prairie Grove score with a 67-yard run in the second quarter. On the next play, Layman Foster put the junior Tigers on the scoreboard with a 5-yard touchdown run with 5:25 left before halftime. He added a 2-point run for an 8-0 Prairie Grove lead.
A disastrous start to the second half put Gravette in a deeper hole. A late block-in-the-back after a play was over backed the junior Lions up 15 yards. After the penalty was marked off, Gravette lined up to punt from the shadow of the goal they were defending only to have Hobbs crash through from the edge and block the kick. Prairie Grove recovered at the Gravette nine with 6:07 to play in the third quarter.
Grant ran hard on a counter, dragging three tacklers into the end zone with him on a 14-yard touchdown run. Gravette stopped a run on the conversion attempt, but trailed 14-0 with 4:54 to go in the third. The junior Lions fought to get back in the game. Chace Austin showed some toughness. On second-and-seven from the junior Lion 36, he was belted by Prairie Grove strong safety Harrison Lowe and lost a yard after catching a wide receiver screen pass to the right.
Undaunted, Gravette came back with quarterback Kaleb Furow completing another screen pass to Austin, this time on the left. Austin went against the grain, running to his right. Reaching the right hashmark, he turned the corner and raced down the sideline for a 65-yard touchdown. A 2-point pass conversion failed, but Gravette had narrowed the margin to a one-score game of 14-6 at the 2:57 mark of the third period.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Cy Hilger recovered a Prairie Grove fumbled option pitch ending a threat at the junior Lions' 24. A 15-yard penalty on first down killed any hopes of a drive and Gravette had to punt, setting up a short field for Prairie Grove at the junior Lion 30. After allowing Grant 20 yards on a run, Gravette dug in defensively at their own 10, but Prairie Grove converted fourth-and-goal with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Higgins to Marshall Montgomery, who made a spectacular catch in traffic. Hobbs tacked on a 2-point run and the junior Tigers went on to a 22-6 victory.
Sports on 10/05/2016