Football: Brumley Leads Blackhawks Over Elkins

PEA RIDGE -- Tony Travis saw plenty of good and bad Friday in Pea Ridge's 21-6 season-opening victory over Elkins.

The Pea Ridge football coach was pleased with a solid first half that left the Blackhawks with a 21-0 halftime lead. But he didn't see the same intensity in the second half which allowed the Elks to stay in contention.

How The Scored

Pea Ridge 21, Elkins 6

Elkins^0^0^0^6^—^6

Pea Ridge^7^14^0^0^—^21

First Quarter

Pea — Easterling 35 pass from Brumley (Brumley kick), 9:04

Second Quarter

Pea — Hardy 10 pass from Brumley (Brumley kick), 10:01

Pea — Easterling 3 run (Brumley kick), 4:26

Fourth Quarter

Elkins England 1 run (kick failed), 10:56

"To be up 21-0 with our starting backfield out of the game you have to be happy with what was going on," Travis said. "We preached it at halftime and we didn't come out with the same intensity in the second half."

Tailback Shane Ivy and fullback Cody Foltz both suffered injuries in the first half but Zane Holley and Garrett Easterling combined for 150 yards as fill-ins.

Easterling ran for one touchdown and caught a pass from Seth Brumley for another. The pass covered 35 yards to cap a 71-yard opening drive for Pea Ridge.

Brumley passed 10 yards to Nick Hardy with 10 minutes left in the first half for a 14-0 lead.

Easterling capped the Blackhawks' scoring with a 3-yard run with 4:26 left in the first half.

Elkins stayed close in the second half behind the play of quarterback Travis England.

He ran for 29 yards and passed for 28 on the Elks' only scoring drive, carrying it in from a yard out with 10:56 left in the game. Pea Ridge's Ryan Jackson blocked Jake Hart's extra-point kick.

The Elks then recovered an onside kick, advancing as far as the Blackhawks' 19 before turning the ball over on downs with 7:39 left in the game.

Elkins had one more opportunity but couldn't cover a muffed punt before it went out of bounds at Pea Ridge's 21 with 4:05 remaining.

"We did not execute very well," Elkins coach Thurman Shaw said. "We had a chance to get a couple of fumbles and didn't get those.

"We have things to work on. This gives us a barometer of where we are."

Extra Points

• Ivy, the Blackhawks' leading rusher last year, gained 20 yards on the first play of the game but didn't play the remained of the game after suffering a lower leg injury. Travis said he was sent for X-rays after halftime.

• Pea Ridge piled up 337 yards offense, including 210 on the ground. Holley had nine carries for 111 yards to lead the rushing attack.

• Brumley was 8 of 12 for 127 yards passing. He also had two tackles (one for a loss of six yards) and recovered a fumble on defense.

• England ran for 86 yards on 23 carries and hit 8 of 14 passes for 80 yards to lead Elkins.

Up Next: Both teams are home for games next week. Green Forest visits Pea Ridge while Elkins opens its home schedule against Lavaca.

Sports on 09/06/2014

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