PRAIRIE GROVE – Prairie Grove beat Clarksville on Friday.

Prairie Grove built a 48-0 halftime lead and defeated the Panthers 68-21 in a preseason game at Tiger Stadium.

Prairie Grove scored 32 points in the first quarter thanks to senior quarterback Alex Abshier, who threw two touchdown passes to Jace Edwards and one to Blake Coughran, who also scored a 65-yard touchdown. In the second quarter, both teams had reserves on the field and Prairie Grove scored two more touchdowns on runs by Braxton Beshears and Corbin Stearman.

Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier credited the Tigers’ breakout to his offensive coordinator Max Waushausen.

“They have 11 guys within 5 yards of the ball, so we try to push them back and throw,” Abshier said. “(Washausen) did a good job all night and once we got going, we were basically unstoppable.”

Clarksville was led onto the field Friday by a new head coach, Mitchell Powers, who succeeds Khris Buckner, who has retired. Powers is facing a major rebuild after the Panthers finished 0-10 the past two seasons. Powers’ task was evident right from the start when the Clarksville kicker stumbled and dribbled a kick about 20 yards away.

Clarksville’s only highlight of the first half came when Cyprus Tuck caught a long pass from the Clarksville 28-yard line on third-and-13 and advanced to the Prairie Grove 21-yard line. But the Tigers’ defense stepped up and kept Clarksville out of the end zone.

Prairie Grove countered all night with Coach Abshier’s famous Wing-T offense, which produced many touchdowns and 2-point conversions. The Tigers used four running plays on their first possession and scored when Coughran broke a tackle and scored a 65-yard touchdown.

Alex Abshier, the grandson of Danny Abshier, ran the offense effectively, making some impressive throws while coming right out of the pocket. If a passing play failed, Prairie Grove knew it could fall back on its strong running game.

The third quarter saw the return of both teams’ starters and Prairie Grove stayed on course with a 55-yard touchdown run by Elijah Sugg and a 2-yard run by Edwards. Clarksville also scored two touchdowns in the third quarter as Angel Alvarez threw touchdown passes to Juan Gonzales and Brack Denton. The game got sloppy at the end of the quarter when three consecutive pass plays resulted in interceptions.

Clarksville will open the season on August 30 at Ozark, while Prairie Grove will officially unveil its new artificial turf on September 6 against Sequoyah, Oklahoma.