PETE PERKINS
It was clear that the Prairie Groves Tigers’ best chance for victory was to keep its offense on the field and consequently the ball from the Nashville Scrappers' quarterback.
Ultimately they couldn’t, but Prairie Grove kept the ball for the vast majority of the second quarter and led by a point at halftime. “We were worried,” said Nashville senior defensive end Billy Stewart, who had 24 sacks for the season, including one against Prairie Grove. “But we talked about it at halftime. We made some adjustments and came out in the second half ready to go.”
By the end, Nashville senior quarterback Leonard Snell had rushed for six touchdowns and 230 yards to lead the Scrappers to a 39-20 victory over Prairie Grove in the Class 4A state championship game at War Memorial Stadium on Saturday night, and it looked at first as if it would be easy for Snell. He gained 95 yards and scored three touchdowns in the first quarter and Nashville led 19-8, but Prairie Grove’s offense controlled the second quarter with equal ease. They kept possession for 9 minutes, 21 seconds, limiting Snell to 24 yards, and Prairie Grove led at halftime, 20-19.
“We’ve been a second half team all year,” first-year Nashville Coach Mike Volarvich said. “At halftime I told our team, ‘Quarters can’t go like that. We have to get the ball in the end zone.’ I can’t say enough about our defense in the second half. They stepped up and we were just dominant.”
Prairie Grove’s third possession of the game started at its 27 with 1:07 left in the first quarter. It ended 13 plays later with a 1-yard touchdown run by senior running back Blake Faulk that cut Nashville’s lead to 19-14 with 7:15 left before halftime.
Three plays and a punt for Nashville on its next possession led to a 12-play, 79-yard drive for Prairie Grove that lasted nearly five minutes and gave the Tigers a 20-19 lead after Faulk’s 5-yard touchdown run with 1:46 left in the second quarter.
Faulk rushed for 119 yards in the first half. He completed the game with 135.
“Their quarterback is a great player,” Faulk said. “We knew that, and we knew we had to do anything we could to keep the ball out of his hands, but we just couldn’t get it going in the second half. Nashville’s defense really stepped it up.”
"Our guys on defense have been getting me the ball all season," Snell said. "Everything we do on offense is because of them."
That was never more evident than on Prairie Grove’s first play of the second half.
After Nashville had taken a 25-20 lead on a 5-yard touchdown run by Snell to start the third quarter, Prairie Grove got the ball at its 20. On first down, senior defensive end Troy Thomas spun Faulk around near the line of scrimmage and tripped him with his hands for a 4-yard loss. Prairie Grove punted after two more plays, and Nashville used a total of 50 seconds to take a 32-20 lead after Snell’s fifth touchdown.
Thomas said it took him most of the first half to adjust to Prairie Grove’s Wing-T Offense. He said he was ready the first time he saw Faulk with the ball.
“In that offense, your lineman is telling you where the ball is going to go every time,” Thomas said. “By the second half, the ball carrier was just eye candy for me in the backfield. We got that halftime break, and then we just came out and did our thing.”
“Troy Thomas really came out to play tonight,” Nashville defensive coordinator Brad Chesshir said. “It was one of those deals where he was a senior, and it was his last game, and he gave it everything he had.”
Prairie Grove had 230 yards of offense in the first half. In the second, it had 89.
“We came out in the second half and shut them down,” Chesshir said. “We made a few minor adjustments, but it wasn’t really about schematic things. It was just about our guys going out and giving it everything they had.”
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