Blackhawks Blank Monticello 42-0

Daniel Beard of Pea Ridge eyes a catch Friday on a more than 50-yard throw for a touchdown during the first quarter against Monticello at Blackhawk Stadiumn in Pea Ridge.

Daniel Beard of Pea Ridge eyes a catch Friday on a more than 50-yard throw for a touchdown during the first quarter against Monticello at Blackhawk Stadiumn in Pea Ridge.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

— Old Blackhawk Stadium refuses to fade to black.

Pea Ridge assured itself of at least one more game in the 49-year-old stadium with its dominating 42-0 win over Monticello on Friday in a first-round Class 4A state playoff game.

The Blackhawks’ first playoff win since 2003, coupled with Heber Springs’ 33-7 win over Star City, assured Pea Ridge of hosting a second-round playoff game next week.

Gamebreaker

PEA RIDGE 42, MONTICELLO 0

WHY THE BLACKHAWKS WON

Defense. Plain and simple. The Blackhawks dominated Monticello defensively, allowing just 4 yards of offense in winning its first playoff game since 2003.

WHY THE BILLIES LOST

Monticello only crossed midfield once and never got inside Pea Ridge’s 40-yard line.

Pea Ridge will be moving into a brand new stadium next season, complete with an artificial surface and all the modern conveniences — even a working clock, which sometimes wasn’t the case Friday night.

“There’s something about this field,” Blackhawks coach Tony Travis said. “It’s wanting to keep going, and that’s fine with us.”

The Blackhawks (10-1) might have played the most complete game this 49-year-old stadium has ever witnessed on Friday. Pea Ridge dominated every facet. The Blackhawks held Monticello to just 4 yards of total offense, two first downs and the Billies (5-6) never moved inside the Pea Ridge 40-yard line.

“They got after us and we didn’t act like we wanted very much of it from the get-go,” said Monticello coach Greg Tiner. “They were whippin’ our rear ends.”

Pea Ridge scored on its second possession on Dalton Morgan’s 34-yard burst with 3 minutes, 56 seconds left in the first half.

The 7-0 lead ballooned in the second quarter when the Blackhawks exploded for 28 points to take a 35-0 halftime lead.

Two big plays punctuated the scoring burst, and both involved Pea Ridge senior Daniel Beard. The first came midway through the quarter with the Blackhawks face a third-and-15. Beard got behind the Monticello defense and hauled in a 70-yard scoring pass from Austin Easterling for a 14-0 lead.

Then with the clock nearing the two-minute mark and the Blackhawks leading 20-0, Beard intercepted a Billies pass near midfield and returned it all the way to the Monticello 12, setting up Dayton Winn’s short touchdown run for a 28-0 lead.

Pea Ridge added a late second quarter touchdown when Easterling, who was 4-of-6 for 145 yards, hit Jack Rapp on a 26-yard touchdown strike that invoked the 35-point mercy rule.

“We hammered them all week long about raising their intensity,” Travis said. “We had a heck of a 9-1 season, but can we raise it up more for the playoffs?

“Tonight, we played at a high level defensively.”