Pirates defeat Valley 38-30
The Prairie Pirates beat the Valley Vikings for the first time since 2014 as they won 38-30 at New Plymouth Friday, Sept. 5.
Prairie had beaten Valley in the 2014 state championship game but had lost to them the last 3 times they played including last year.
This game started like it was going to be 4 straight losses. Prairie received the opening kickoff and started at their own 11. They picked up a first down on a 4 yard pass from Kade Quintal to Chris Schumacher at the 22.
Quintal was sacked on both second and third down for losses totaling 14 yards and Prairie had to punt from their own 13. Levi McElroy’s punt went 57 yards before it was picked up and returned 4 yards to the Valley 34.
Valley moved the back down the field mixing running and passing and scored in 11 plays. The score came on a 3 yard pass. They added the 2-pointer for a 0-8 lead.
Levi Gehring returned the ensuing kickoff 18 yards to the 26. Prairie faced third and 10 when Quintal connected with Peyton Stamper down the left side for 36 yards to the Valley 38.
Prairie then ran the ball 7 straight plays. Gehring picked up a first down at the 22 with a 10 yard run. 2 plays later he went 11 yards to set up first and goal at the 10. On third and goal from the 4, Gehring took a pitch to the left and went into the end zone.
Prairie’s 2-point pass fell incomplete making the score 6-8 in Valley’s favor.
The Prairie defense adjusted on Valley’s next possession and forced a punt from the Valley 29. The punt went off the side of the punter’s foot and out of bounds after only 13 yards.
Prairie took over at the Valley 42. The Pirates faced a third and 8 at the 40. Quintal completed a screen pass to McElroy for 11 yards and a first down. Chris Schumacher ran for 7 up the middle and Gehring took a pitch to the left for 4 yards and another first down.
A pass interference penalty against Valley gave prairie a first and goal at the 9. Schumacher went up the middle for 3 yards then Gehring scored his second touchdown of the game on a 6 yard run to the left. McElroy went in at quarterback and ran in the 2-pointer for the Pirates’ first lead of the game at 14-8.
Valley started their next possession at their 17. They picked up a couple of first downs and moved almost to midfield at their 49. Stamper tackled quarterback Brandt Jones for a 4 yard loss on third and 2 and Jones’s fourth down pass was batted down by Gehring. That gave Prairie the ball at the Valley 45.
On Prairie’s first play, Quintal’s pass was nearly intercepted but the Vikings were called for roughing the passer giving Prairie a first down at the 30.
After a 5 yard loss, Quintal passed to McElroy for 13 yards. Quintal then picked up 2 on a keeper for a first down at the 20. On the next play Quintal passed to Cooper Riener down the left side for 20 yards and Riener’s first varsity touchdown. McElroy again ran in the 2 point to give Prairie a 22-8 lead with 1:04 left in the half.
Valley got down to the Prairie 19 on their ensuing possession before running out of time.
The Vikings received the second half kickoff and took over a their 38. They used their size advantage in the line and their 5’9”, 195 lb. running back Thomas Vargas to power their way down the field. Vargas carried on 5 of the 8 plays for 29 yards with Jones scoring the touchdown. With the 2-point conversion Valley cut Prairie’s lead to 22-16.
Gehring recovered a short Valley kickoff at the Prairie 44. Quintal was sacked on the first play for a 13 yard loss. After an incompletion he passed top Gehring for 17 yards to set up fourth and 6 at the 48. Quintal then completed a pass to Riener for 32 yards and a first down at the Valley 20.
3 running plays netted just 4 yards then Quintal hit McElroy with a pass on a crossing pattern for 14 yards and a first down at the 2.
Valley stopped the Pirates on 3 straight running plays before McElroy went in at quarterback on fourth down and scored from the 2. Quintal then passed to Riener for the 2-point for a 30-16 lead.
Valley took over at their 35 after Prairie’s kickoff went out of bounds at the 16. They faced a fourth and 1 at the 44 when Jones ran a keeper to the left and went 56 yards for a touchdown. Schumacher kept the runner out of the end zone on the 2-point try leaving Prairie with a 30-22 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff Benny Secrest caught the ball on the Prairie 19 and returned it 81 yards for a Prairie touchdown. Quintal passed to Riener for the 2-pointer to make it 38-22 with 2:20 left in the third quarter.
Valley answered back with a 55 yard scoring drive in 11 plays with help from a 15 yard facemask penalty against Prairie. They scored on the third play of the fourth quarter and added the 2-pointer to get back within 8 at 38-30.
A sack led to a punt by Prairie. McElroy’s 51 yard punt left Valley starting from their own 8.
Two plays netted 50 yards for the Vikings. After another first down at the 22, the defense stiffened. Valley faced a fourth and 8 at the Prairie 20. Jones appeared to complete a pass but Schumacher took the ball right out of the receivers hands for an interception to give Prairie the ball at their 21.
An offsides penalty helped Prairie pick up a first down. A holding penalty then erased a gain and set the Pirates back on their 23. A 16 yard pass to Gehring down the right side and another 16 yard pass to Riener down the left side gave Prairie a first down at the Valley 45.
Prairie stalled out their and on fourth down, were able to run the clock down to 14 seconds before calling timeout. A Valley coach thought the Pirates were allowed to run the clock down farther than they should have and wound up getting and unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that gave Prairie a first down. That allowed the Pirates to run out the clock.
Valley wound up outgaining the Pirates 223 to 382. Prairie was able to prevail thanks to a couple of short fields plus Lane Mader’s kickoffs and a couple of 50+ yard punts by McElroy made Valley start deep in their own end most of the time.
Gehring was Prairie’s leading rusher with 35 yards on 10 carries. Schumacher had 18 yards on 8 carries. Quintal was sacked 5 times which led to the Pirates netting just 41 yards rushing on 36 attempts.
Quintal completed 11 of 15 passes for 182 yards. Riener caught 3 for 68 yards. McElroy caught 3 for 38 yards. Gehring caught 3 for 36 yards. Stamper caught 1 for 36 and Schumacher caught 1 for 4 yards.
Valley had 252 yards rushing on 42 attempts led by Jones with 130 on 16 carries and Vargas with 106 on 21 carries.
Jones complete 12 of 20 passes with 1 interception for 130 yards. Leading receivers were Reese Balls with 4 catches for 54 yards and Diego Damian with 4 for 44 yards.
Schumacher was the leading defender with 10 solo tackles, 4 assists and 1 interception. Gehring was right there with him with 10 solo tackles and 4 assists. McElroy had 6 unassisted tackles and 4 assists. Lane Mader had 3 solos and 6 assists. Stamper had 3 solos and 3 assists. Trajan Elven had 2 solos and 4 assists. Marshall Weber, Secrest and Ashton Martin each had 1 solo and 2 assists. Quintal and Max Rehder each had 1 solo tackle.
Prairie is now 2-0 on the season.
Their next game is their league opener this Friday at Lapwai at 7 p.m.
Prairie 0 22 16 0 -38
Valley 8   0 14 8 -30
V-Zamudio 3 pass from Jones (Vargas run) 3:05 1st
P-Gehring 4 run (pass failed) 11:11 2nd
P-Gehring 6 run (McElroy run) 6:51 2nd
P-Riener 20 pass from Quintal (McElroy run) 1:04 2nd
V-Jones 14 run (Zamudio pass from Jones) 8:36 3rd
P-McElroy 2 run (Riener pass from Quintal) 4:07 3rd
V-Jones 56 run (run failed) 2:33 3rd
P-Secrest 81 kickoff return (Riener pass from Quintal) 2:20 3rd
V-Balls 2 run (Jones run) 10:58 4th