BOONEVILLE -- Pea Ridge running back Drew Winn was contained for the most part by Booneville's defense in the first half. That changed after the break Friday at Bearcat Stadium.
Winn finished with 34 carries for 163 yards with two touchdowns to help lead the way in a 22-19 victory against Booneville in the quarterfinals of the Class 4A state playoffs.
Pea Ridge 22, Booneville 19
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First quarter
Boone — Ray 4 run (Dobbs kick), 7:26
Second quarter
Boone — Ray 15 run (Dobbs kick) 11:14
Pea — Holtgrewe 20 pass from Sainsbury (Green kick), :43
Third quarter
Pea — Winn 14 run (Green kick) 9:57
Boone — Rodatz 7 run (pass failed), 2:37
Fourth quarter
Pea — Winn 6 run (Winn rush), 10:10
"You look down at his stats and he has a bunch of yards," Pea Ridge coach Stephen Neal said. "But he didn't break the long one like we've seen. This is a perfect example of him grinding it out for us making the little plays."
Pea Ridge (12-1) was able to run out the clock with the help of a 20-yard run from Winn, his longest of the night, to pick up a third-down conversion in the final minutes of the game.
"When we needed him most, he came through for us with a big play," Neal said. "Drew is a very good player, and we wanted the ball in his hands."
Pea Ridge bounced back after falling behind 13-7 at halftime while turning the ball over three times in its initial three possessions of the game.
Keeping the ball away from the Blackhawks' offense helped limit Winn to just 52 yards on 12 carries in the first half.
"We shot ourselves in the foot a little bit," Neal said. "That's something this team all the way back to last year we have been able to overcome. We've been in some tough spots. But they always stay believing this year."
Booneville (10-2) scored its first-half touchdowns starting at the Pea Ridge 10 and 25 with the help of turnovers. Both drives were capped by rushes by running back Carson Ray.
Pea Ridge got its offense going in its final drive of the first half. The Blackhawks took over at its own 46 with just 1:19 left in the second quarter but scored quickly.
Pea Ridge quarterback Jakota Sainsbury found Hayden Holtgrewe for a 20-yard touchdown to make it a 13-7 Booneville lead at halftime.
"We started to get our momentum going a little bit with that drive," Neal said. "I give credit to Booneville. They are a very good football team. Their defense made it tough on us early."
It didn't take long for Pea Ridge to score again on its opening possession of the second half.
The Blackhawks needed five plays to end a 72-yard scoring drive that was capped with Winn scoring from 14 yards out to take a 14-13 lead early in the third quarter.
"We made a couple adjustments there," Neal said. "We came back out in the second half and reestablished our running game. We did a good job coming back there in the second half."
Winn didn't look back after finding that success right after halftime, finishing with 22 carries for 111 yards with two touchdowns in the second half.
"He had some fresh legs and it showed," Booneville coach Scott Hyatt said. "He only plays on offense, so he looked really good in the second half. He is a heck of a football player. Can't say anything bad about him."
Booneville was able to bounce back taking the lead with a 7-yard touchdown run from Grant Rodatz. The score gave the Bearcats a 19-14 advantage after a failed two-point conversion.
It didn't take long for Pea Ridge to answer the score, as it used a 56-yard scoring drive on the next possession to pull ahead 22-19 with about 10 minutes in the game.
Booneville was led by Ray, who finished with 12 carries for 59 yards including two touchdowns. Quarterback Brandon Ulmer added 79 yards on 19 carries for the Bearcats.
Sainsbury completed 10 of 18 passes for 138 yards including a touchdown. Holtgrewe was the main target through the air, finishing with eight catches for 94 yards with a touchdown.
Sports on 11/25/2017