PRAIRIE GROVE — Nic Sugg needed just two plays to come up with an interception Friday night against Crossett, but one wasn’t enough for Sugg and the rest of Prairie Grove’s defense.
Crossett found that out the hard way.
Prairie Grove’s defense is known for its stingy ways, and that didn’t change in a 52-0 victory over the Eagles in the opening round of the Class 4A state playoffs.
Sugg came up with his second interception of the game in the second quarter, and teammate Jon Halbert came through with two more in the first half as the Tigers defense dominated Crossett.
“We take major pride in our defense,” Sugg said. “A shutout is a major thing, andwe make sure that whoever is in there playing, we want that shutout.”
Prairie Grove (10-0), the top seed from the 1-4A Conference, made quick work of Crossett (4-7), the fifth seed from the 8-4A, as its Wing-T offense confused the Eagles as much as its defense.
Prairie Grove built an 18-0 lead after one quarter, mixing in a strong rushing attack led by Weston Bartholomew and J.D. Speed with a big-play passing attack that resulted in three touchdown passes by quarterback Cooper Winters.
“This is the first time we had seen a straight Wing-T team and they were tough to stop,” Crossett Coach Mark Kelley said. “They showed a lot of different formations and did a lot of good things.
“They’re just a very solid team.”
The Tigers built their lead to 38-0 by halftime, invokingthe mercy rule in the second half. Even though Prairie Grove went mostly with reserves in the second half, Crossett never came close to scoring, amassing just 140 total yards and six first downs in the game.
“It’s always scary in the playoffs when you’re playing somebody from a different area of the state and you don’t have any real comparisons to go off of,” Prairie Grove Coach Danny Abshier said. “Their running back, my goodness, he was really fast and our defense was able to hem him up.
“The defense did a really good job.”
Prairie Grove plays host to Pottsville (10-1) next week in the second round.
POTTSVILLE 56, GRAVETTE 13
POTTSVILLE - Corey Campbell scored four touchdowns, including one on a 32-yard interception return early in the first quarter, as Pottsville (10-1) rolled overGravette (4-7) in a first-round Class 4A playoff game.
Pottsville will play at Prairie Grove in a second-round game next week.
Campbell also scored on runs of 44, 1 and 1 yards.
Tyler Weaver scored touchdowns for Pottsville on a 48-yard pass from Michael Perry and a 70-yard run. Taylor Waddell added a 79-yard touchdown run, and Ty Whitten returned an interception 100 yards for another score.
Tristen Kahanek ran for 2-yard touchdown and passed to Peyton Rose for a 42-yard score for Gravette.
DARDANELLE 52, POCAHONTAS 14
DARDANELLE - Nick Hendrix scored four touchdowns as Dardanelle (9-2) rallied from a 14-14 tie late in the second quarter to defeat Pocahontas (7-4).
Hendrix scored his first touchdown on an 8-yard run to give the Sand Lizards a 14-6 lead in the second quarter, but Pocahontas’ P.K. Kirk ran in from 1 yard to tie it up again.
Hendrix then scored from 2 yards and, after Dardanelle intercepted a pass, Hendrix scored his third touchdown from 2 yards just 44 second later.
Antonio Garcia added a 48-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.
Sports, Pages 28 on 11/10/2012