PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Soehner Shoulders Load For Tigers

By Nathan Allen

Posted: November 16, 2009 at 4:43 a.m.

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SPRINGDALE — As Thomas Soehner was boarding Prairie Grove’s team bus Friday morning, coach Danny Abshier stopped him for a quick word.

Abshier pulled Soehner to the side of the bus, put his hand on the big senior running back’s shoulder and softly said, “I hope you took some vitamins for (Friday’s) game. In all seriousness, you might get the ball on every single play. Just be ready to go.”

Soehner took his coach’s words to heart.

Go is exactly what Soehner did against Dumas, rushing for 207 yards and three touchdowns in Prairie Grove’s stunning 49-42 victory in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs.

With steady play from the offensive line and a good game plan, the Tigers (5-6) scored six touchdowns against the Bobcats, never punted and converted on a pair of two-point conversions to pull off one of the state’s biggest upsets.

The effort against Dumas was good enough to earn Soehner the Northwest Arkansas Newspapers Player of the Week honors.

“While all of us were in the huddle, we kept telling ourselves that we could beat those guys,” Soehner said. “ We were moving the ball, we were making plays and we were doing everything right. It was just our night.”

This season, Soehner has totaled 1,586 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns.

Abshier said there’s no doubt the Tigers had a disappointing season this fall, where they lost six games and barely got into the playoffs out of the 4A-1 Conference.

But Prairie Grove seemed to get itself turned around two weeks ago with a 44-17 victory at Gravette, giving the Tigers a huge jolt of confidence entering the playoffs.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt we’re peaking right now,” said Abshier, whose team hadn’t won a playoff game since 2006. “And since we’re in the playoffs, it’s a good time to be peaking.”

Soehner said after the game was over, the feeling of excitement flooded Prairie Grove’s locker room and that for the first time this season, the Tigers felt a level of confidence that they could compete with anybody.

“When we realized we could compete against Dumas, we realized we could compete with anybody,” Soehner said. “There’s probably a lot of people that think we won’t stand a chance (next week) at Nashville, and that’s fine. But the way we feel right now, I think we can go down there and play well enough to win again.”

Other Nominees

• Reed Brown, Rogers Heritage — The War Eagles’ junior quarterback completed 20 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns to not only give Heritage a 17-10 victory over Little Rock Catholic, the first in school history.

• Cody Montee, Gravette — The Lions’ junior kicker made four field goals, including two in the third quarter, to account for all Gravette’s scoring in a 12-7 victory over Valley View in the Class 4A playoffs.

• Brandon Allen, Fayetteville — Despite the Purple’Dogs losing to Conway in the first round of the playoffs, Allen threw for 470 yards and five touchdowns, including three in the fourth quarter alone.

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