Pea Ridge Spoils Lincoln's Homecoming

— By Rick Fires

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At least the Lincoln girls and their homecoming dresses were pretty.

That’s about all the went right at Lincoln on Friday, where the Wolves lost 35-9 to Pea Ridge in a 4A-1 Conference game at the Wolves Stadium. Pea Ridge (5-0, 2-0) remained undefeated while Lincoln (4-1, 1-1) suffered its first loss since moving up this year from Class 3A.

GAMEBREAK

Pea Ridge 35, Lincoln 9

WHY PEA RIDGE WON

Dayton Winn ran for a 50-yard score before Austin Easterling threw three touchdown passes in the third quarter after Lincoln began creeping up to stop the run. Pea Ridge also had a goal-line stand that kept the Wolves scoreless until the fourth quarter.

WHY LINCOLN LOST

Lincoln was outplayed in all aspects of the game. The Wolves were already behind when a bad snap over the punter’s head led to a 21-point outburst by the Blackhawks in the third quarter.

Pea Ridge’s victory was decisive, especially in the third quarter when quarterback Austin Easterling threw three touchdown passes to stretch the Blackhawks lead to 35-0. Easterling threw touchdown passes of 53 and 5 yards to Daniel Beard before he found Jack Rapp behind the Lincoln defense for a 59-yard score.

The big pass plays came after Dayton Winn opened the scoring with a 50-yard run in the first quarter. Dalton Morgan then scored on a 2-yard run to give Pea Ridge a 14-0 lead at halftime.

Pea Ridge coach Tony Travis said his team began throwing the ball down field after Lincoln loaded up on the interior in an effort to slow down Winn.

“They were making it so hard at times to run the football, and I felt like we needed to try something,” Travis said. “Our guys came through and made some plays for us in the passing game.”

Lincoln had a bad snap over the punter’s head that led to a touchdown and the Wolves were stopped on fourth down at the Pea Ridge 3 late in the second quarter. The Wolves didn’t score until Johnny Yang ran in from three yards out with 8:43 left in the game.

“They outplayed us in every aspect of the ball game, offense, defense, and special teams,” Lincoln Coach Brad Harris said. “We didn’t play our best but they had a lot to do with that. They’ve got a really good team and this won’t be the last game they’ll win.”

Pea Ridge led 14-0 on touchdowns by Winn and Morgan and the Blackhawks also had a goal-line stand in the second quarter that left the Wolves scoreless at halftime.

Patrick Haynes got Lincoln started in the first quarter with a punt return to the Pea Ridge 43 and Dalton Hamby kept the drive going with a 26-yard reception from Drew Harris to the Pea Ridge 22. The Blackhawks then began to stiffen and forced a fourth-and-goal situation at its 3-yard line.

Following a Lincoln timeout, Harris rolled right after a fake handoff then flung an incomplete pass in the end zone with two Pea Ridge defenders closing in on him. The play left Pea Ridge backed up near its own goal but Winn gave the Blackhawks some room to maneuver with a 9-yard run that led to a first down.

Pea Ridge had one more scoring opportunity late in the second quarter but that ended when Dalton Simmons intercepted a pass by Easterling at the Lincoln 35-yard line with 24 seconds left before halftime.

Winn had two 10-yard gains on Pea Ridge’s first possession. The series ended with a punt, but he broke loose for a 50-yard run on the following possession to put the Blackhawks ahead 7-0. Winn, who has 4.6 speed, avoided a tackler near the line of scrimmage then ran away from the pursuit to put the Blackhawks ahead with 5:02 left in the first quarter.

Pea Ridge went ahead 14-0 in the second quarter when Morgan rumbled in from two yards to complete a 15-play, 85-yard scoring drive. Easterling had a 13-yard run on the drive and completed an 11-yard pass to Braxton Caudill for a first down.

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