Airedales overcome obstacles in 27-13 5A-West win over spirited Blackhawks
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
It took Jackson Daily a half to find his footing Friday at Pea Ridge.
But, like his late grandfather, Marvin 'Freight Train' Daily, once the big quarterback got rolling it was like trying to slow down a speeding locomotive.
Pea Ridge couldn't stop him.
Daily ran for 179 yards and scored three second-half touchdowns in Alma's 27-13 win over the Blackhawks - the Airedales' fifth straight victory.
“We started out slow; we only had six points at halftime, which isn’t where we want to be at all,” Daily said. “(But) we came back and came up huge in the second half. It really worked out well; the offensive line and everybody played great.”
Through six games, Daily has been an offensive monster, amassing 831 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns. The Airedales’ quarterback has run for 11 touchdowns in the team’s first three conference games.
“We’ve got a huge game coming up with Harrison for Homecoming,” Daily said. “It’s going to be a really big game.”
The Airedales and Shiloh Christian Saints are currently tied for the lead with 3-0 records.
But Alma has four tough games to close out the season, starting with Harrison.
Alma, which had hammered Pea Ridge, 45-7, in 2022, battled the wind, cooler temps, and an angry Blackhawks team, coach Rusty Bush said.
“We knew going into this, Pea Ridge is going to get after us,” the Airedales coach said. “I think they were a little upset over getting beat last week (against Dardanelle), and they thought they could play better (against Alma), and obviously they did. (But) like I told our kids, we’ve got a bullseye on our chest now, and when you’re playing championship ball, you’re going to get max effort from the other team.”
The Airedales (5-1, 3-0) have won three in a row and are averaging 38.1 points per game through six weeks.
Alma's Carlos Gonzalez slithered into the end zone in the first half as Alma, held to a season-low in points, held a 6-3 halftime lead. Gonzalez finished with 83 yards rushing on 15 attempts (5.5 carry) and now has 512 yards rushing.
The Airedales haven’t had a 1,000-yard rusher from their running back position since Malachi White ran for 1,134 yards in 2013.
Battling the strong north breeze, overcoming poor field position, and a big first-half turnover inside the Blackhawks' 40, the Airedales put together three big second-half scoring drives when it mattered most. Daily and the Airedales snapped a 6-6 tie with an 8-yard TD run to give Alma the lead for good.
Dailey's 43-yard jaunt made it 20-8.
Defensively, the Airedales held Pea Ridge to just 117 yards rushing while overcoming two big pass plays (one for 36 and another for 40).
“I think we executed what we needed to do,” junior defensive end Jackson Mitchell said. “We were physical the entire game and really stuck to our game plan.”
Ashton Chanhnouvong had another big game with 10 tackles. Israel Towns-Robinson had eight tackles, including two of the team’s nine TFLs.
Junior Noah Ingle added seven tackles, including two TFLs and a quarterback sack.