Winn Does It Again For Blackhawks

— Dayton Winn was bottled up and surrounded by a sea of white jerseys.

The Pea Ridge senior, after taking a hand-off on a third-and-five play early in the third quarter, had nowhere to go.

Yet somehow he managed to escape the Gravette defenders by spinning around and dashing the other way. The net result of the play was just six yards, but it gave the Blackhawks a first down.

One play later, teammate Austin Easterling broke off a 33-yard touchdown that proved to be the difference in Pea Ridge’s 21-13 win Friday night at Blackhawk Stadium.

Gamebreaker

PEA RIDGE 21, GRAVETTE 13

WHY THE BLACKHAWKS WON

Dayton Winn rushed for 193 yards and one touchdown, and he added a 46-yard touchdown reception for Pea Ridge.

WHY THE LIONS LOST

Too many turnovers doomed Gravette. The Lions had two fumbles and an interception.

“I was trying to get around my tight end and try and cut the edge,” Winn said. “They reached out and had an arm on me. I guess he just slung me back, and I saw an opening. My blockers came around and the hole just opened up.”

Winn had a number of big plays for the Blackhawks (4-0, 1-0 4A-1 Conference), including a 23-yard run later in the second half where seemingly every Gravette defender hit him at least once.

He finished the night with 193 yards on 23 carries and added a 46-yard touchdown on a screen pass as the Blackhawks defeated Gravette (1-3, 0-1) for the first time since 1994.

Pea Ridge jumped out to a 21-0 lead on Easterling’s touchdown, but the Lions showed plenty of fight in battling back to have a chance to tie the game at the end.

“Both sides laid out a lot of licks tonight,” Gravette coach Bill Harrelson said. “We just made a few too many negative plays. But that’s a credit to Pea Ridge. They have a great defense, and they showed it tonight.”

Gravette quarterback Chase Brody was near flawless in the second half, at one point completing eight straight passes and leading his team back from the three-touchdown hole.

The Lions, after Easterling’s touchdown, answered back with a 76-yard drive and scored on Cody Robinson’s 1-yard run. Then, Bounds hit Shay Shimer on a 39-yard pass to set up a short touchdown pass to Peyton Rose that closed the margin to 21-13 with 11 minutes left.

4A-1 Conference

PEA RIDGE 21, GRAVETTE 13

Gravette 0 0 7 6 — 13

Pea Ridge 0 14 7 0 — 21

Second Quarter

Pea — Winn 4 run (DeLeon kick), 8:05.

Pea — Winn 46 pass from Easterling (DeLeon kick), 2:27.

Third Quarter

Pea — Easterling 33 run (DeLeon kick), 8:37.

Grav — Robinson 1 run (Duarte kick), 5:03.

Fourth Quarter

Grav — Rose 1 pass from Brody (kick fails), 11:00.

The Lions had a chance late when Tyler Kerley recovered a Pea Ridge fumble, but the Blackhawks got key sacks from Will Klein, Blake Roughton and Garrett Morgan to stop the drive. The Blackhawks sealed the win later on Braxton Caudill’s interception.

Harrelson praised the play of his defense and the way his team fought back. He also gave Winn a lot of credit.

“Dayton Winn is a great back, and that’s all you can say,” Harrelson said. “He made some great runs.”

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