Pirates hold off Valley 50-44
The Prairie football team led 50-24 with 17 minutes to play and then had to hold on to claim a 50-44 win over Valley in first round state football playoff action at Cottonwood Friday, Oct. 31.
It was Prairie’s first state playoff win since 2020.
With the win, Prairie will advance to the quarterfinals where they will meet the Grace Grizzlies. That game is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 7 at 8:15 MST at Pocatello at the ICCU Dome (formerly known as Holt Arena or the Minidome) on the Idaho State University campus.
Prairie received the opening kickoff, which went out of bounds and set the Pirates up at their 35. Levi Gehring picked up 5 yards to the left on first down and Prairie picked up the first down on a pass from Kade Quintal to Payton Stamper that covered 9 yards.
On the next play Chris Schumacher took the handoff and went up the middle, cut to the right and raced 51 yards to the end zone. Quintal pass to Lane Mader, normally an offensive lineman, for the 2-pointer to make it 8-0.
It didn’t take Valley long to answer. They started at their own 18 after the kick returner slipped. After a 5 yard gain on first down, Daniel Zamudio ran a sweep to the left and broke loose for a 77 yard scoring run. Prairie stopped the 2-point run and now held an 8-6 lead.
Valley tried an onside kick and John Seubert wound up recovering the ball at the Prairie 37. On third and 5 at the 42, Quintal passed to Cooper Riener down the right side for a 58 yard touchdown as Riener got behind the defender and outraced them to the end zone. Quintal passed to Schumacher for the 2-pointer to make it 16-6.
Valley again answered right away. Quarterback Brandt Jones picked up 28 yards on a second and 8 to move the ball to the Prairie 38. Thomas Vargas then took off around the right side for a touchdown on the next play. The 2-point pass fell incomplete as Prairie now led 16-12.
2-point plays turned out to be huge in this game as Valley was just 1 for 7 while Prairie was 4 for 7. That accounted for the 6 point difference in the final score.
Finally the defenses showed up as Prairie was forced to punt on their next possession and so was Valley.
Gehring returned Valley’s punt 30 yards to the Valley 25 yard line giving Prairie great field position. A 10 yard pass from Quintal to Stamper gave Prairie a first down at the 14. Quintal passed to Schumacher for 8 years. Gehring picked up 4 yards running left to set up first and goal at the 2.
On second and goal at the 1, Quintal scored on a quarterback sneak. Prairie’s 2-point run was stopped leaving the Pirates with a 22-12 lead.
Valley’s next possession ended then Levi McElroy intercepted Jones’ pass at the Prairie 47 and returned it to the 50. Quintal passed to Stamper for 8 yards and on second and 2, Quintal passed deep down the left side to Gehring for a 42 yard touchdown. The 2-point pass failed but Prairie now led 28-12 with 1:42 left in the first quarter.
Valley took over on their own 22 to start their next possession. They faced a fourth and 7 at the 25 and decided to go for it. On the first play of the second quarter, Vargas was stopped after a 4 yard gain and Prairie took over on downs at the Valley 29.
Prairie kept it on the ground with Gehring gaining 9 yards on fourth and 1 to set up a first down at the 11. Quintal gained 6 to moved the ball to the 5. On third and 1, Gehring took the ball up the middle and into the end zone. Quintal passed to McElroy for the 2-pointer to make it 36-12.
Valley’s next possession also ended prematurely. After picking up a first down at the Prairie 44, Jones’ pass was tipped up by Schumacher and Gehring intercepted at the Prairie 38. He returned the ball to the 42.
Quintal passed to McElroy for 22 yards to the Valley 38. After a loss of 1, Quintal passed to Schumacher out in the left flat and Schumacher picked up 32 yards to set up first and goal at the 5.
Prairie ran the ball 4 straight times picking up 1 yard on each play. That left them less than a yard short of the goal line as they turned the ball over on downs. That led to a 12-point turnaround as Jones scrambled out of the end zone where 4 or 5 Pirates had a chance at tackling him for a safety. Once Jones got past the line of scrimmage he kept on going and went 99 yards for a Valley touchdown. Prairie stopped the 2-point try but saw their lead cut to 36-18.
Prairie started their next possession at their own 25. Quintal passed down the left side to Stamper who covered 69 yards before getting tackled at the Valley 6 yard line. Gehring picked up 3 on first down. After an incomplete pass, Quintal ran a quarterback keeper and scored from the 3. Quintal then passed to Mader for his second 2-pointer of the game to make it 44-18 with 4:20 left in the half. That 26-point margin was their biggest of the game.
Valley went for it on fourth and 5 at the Prairie 41 on their next possession and Jones slipped after picking up 2 yards. Prairie took over at the 39.
Quintal passed to McElroy for what appeared to be a big gain but a holding penalty set the Pirates back to their own 32. That led to a punt with Valley taking over at their own 35 after a 15 yard penalty. Valley faced a third and 5 at the 40 when Jones connected with Jaykob Perez for 60 yards and a touchdown. The 2-point pass failed and Valley now trailed 44-24 with 50 seconds left in the half.
Prairie gave the ball right back on an interception with Valley taking over at their own 41. Perez caught a pass for 29 yards to the Prairie30 but Stamper batted one pass away and on the last play of the half McElroy batted another pass away.
Valley received the second half kickoff and looked to pound the ball down the field with Vargas, their 195 lb. running back. They moved the ball down to the 30 where Prairie stopped Jones on a fourth and 2, tackling him after 1 yard gain.
The Pirates took over on their own 29. Quintal passed to McElroy for 14 yards. Schumacher then ran for 19 and Gehring for 20. A 12 yard run by Gehring gave Prairie a first and goal at the 4. On third and inches Schumacher pushed through the middle for a touchdown. The 2-point run was stopped short. Prairie equaled their biggest lead of the game at 26 points, 50-24.
Valley answered back with the touchdown drive as they went 65 yards in 8 plays, helped out by a defensive holding call against the Pirates. Jones passed to Vargas for the final 23 yards and then ran in the 2-point to cut their deficit to 50-32.
Prairie was unable to move the ball and had to punt the ball back to the Vikings.
Valley started at their own 43 and put together an 8 play scoring drive with Jones passing to Perez for 14 yards and a touchdown with 10:30 left to play. The 2-point pass failed as Valley now trailed 40-38.
Valley tried another onside kick but Seubert caught the ball on the bounce at the 37 and returned it 6 yards to the 43. Prairie picked up a couple of first downs and a 6 yard run by Gehring on second and 4 and a 6 yards pass to McElroy on fourth and 2. McElroy made a diving catch to come up with the first down.
After a 3 yard run by Gehring and a 5 yard run by Schumacher, Prairie had a third and 2 at the 23. A false start penalty set them back and 2 pass attempts turned the ball back to Valley at the 28.
On fourth and four at the 34, Jones pass downfield to Diego Damian for 66 yards and a touchdown. Prairie stopped the 2-point run but now had their lead trimmed to just 6 points at 50-44 with 3:49 left to play.
Valley almost executed an onside kick as the ball bounced around before Gehring was able to corral it at the Prairie 35.
Two plays later a fumble gave Valley the ball back at the Prairie 48.
Valley picked up a first down at the 36 on a run by Jones. Jones then fumbled but Valley recovered at the 35. A false start penalty set Valley back to the 40. On the next play Ben Secrest and Ashton Martin broke through and sacked Jones for a 14 yard loss back to the Valley 46. Jones was shaken up on the play and left the game. Backup quarterback Damian Traughber came in and completed a 22 yard pass to set up fourth and 6 at the 32. A fourth down pass fell incomplete as Prairie took over on downs.
A hard count drew Valley offsides. Gehring picked up 3 and Quintal 1 to set up third and 1. Another hard count pulled Valley offsides again, giving Prairie a first down. Prairie was then able to run out the clock.
The Pirates picked up 209 yards rushing on 44 attempts led by Gehring who had 97 yards on 24 carries. Schumacher added 95 yards on 11 carries and Quintal had 17 yards on 9 carries.
Quintal completed 13 of 26 passes with 1 interception for 286 yards. Stamper caught 4 passes for 96 yards. McElroy caught 4 for 45 yards. Schumacher caught 3 for 45 yards. Riener caught 1 for 58 and Gehring caught 1 for 42.
Valley had 371 yards rushing on 43 carries led by Jones who had 196 yards on 26 carries. Vargas added 85 on 12 carries and Zamudio had 81 on just 3 carries.
Jones completed 10 of 20 passes with 2 interceptions for 230 yards. Traughber completed 1 of 2 for 22 yards.
Perez caught 5 for 110 yards to lead the receivers.
Both times they played Valley outgained the Pirates in total yardage but Prairie won both games thanks to some short fields.
Mader led the defense with 6 solo tackles, 10 assists and a sacks. Gehring had 7 solos, 6 assists and an interception. Schumacher had 5 solos and 7 assists. Secrest had 5 solos, 5 assists and a sack. Stamper had 6 solos and 4 assists. Trajan Elven had 3 solos and 4 assists. McElroy had 6 solos, 2 assists and an interception. Martin had 2 solos, 6 assists and a sack. Max Rehder had 2 assists and Quintal had 1 assist.
Prairie is now 7-3 on the season.
Prairie 28 16 6   0 -50
Valley 12 12 8 12 -44
P-Schumacher 51 run (Mader pass from Quintal) 10:54 1st
V-Zamudio 77 run (run failed) 10:08 1st
P-Riener 58 pass from Quintal (Schumacher pass from Quintal) 9:22 1st
V-Vargas 38 run (pass failed) 8:22 1st
P-Quintal 1 run (run failed) 3:38 1st
P-Gehring 42 pass from Quintal (pass failed) 1:42 1st
P-Gehring 2 run (McElroy pass from Quintal) 9:49 2nd
V-Jones 99 run (run failed) 5:53 2nd
P-Quintal 3 run (Mader pass from Quintal) 4:20 2nd
V-Perez 60 pass from Jones (pass failed) 0:50.5 2nd
P-Schumacher 1 run (run failed) 4:54 3rd
V-Vargas 23 pass from Jones (Jones run) 1:25 3rd
V-Perez 14 pass from Jones (pass failed) 10:30 4th
V-Damian 66 pass from Jones (run failed) 3:49 4th