| Pirates
beat Raft River 40-8 in state opener
The Prairie Pirates finally ran into an opponent that could slow them down a little but still managed to pull away to a 40-8 win over Raft River in their state tournament opener Friday, Nov. 6 at Moscow. 
The Pirates started out strong as Devin Schmidt picked up 23 yards on the first play from scrimmage but then came up short on fourth down and turned the ball over on downs at the Trojan 40. The Pirates got the ball back after a short punt at their own 42 but again came up short on fourth down, this time by only inches. During this series Schmidt left the game with an ankle sprain and didn’t return to the game. He is expected to be able to play again this week. Raft River gave the ball right back though when their fourth down pass attempt sailed high with Prairie taking over at their own 45. A Raft River defender knocked the ball loose from Branden Waller on a first down pass attempt as Kyle Holthaus missed on 3 of his first 4 pass attempts in the game. On his fifth pass attempt he faded back, sucking in the defense and hit David Sigler on a middle screen pass (a short pass in the middle of the field with blockers set up in front of the receiver). Sigler took the pass and followed his blocking out to the left side of the field and raced up the sidelines 55 yards to the end zone for the game’s first score. The 2-point try failed leaving Prairie with a 6-0 lead which is where the score stood at the end of the first quarter. Prairie got pinned deep in their own end on their next possession. Raft River resurrected a lot of early day football formations in their offense such as the single wing and double wing, both formations developed in the early 20th century. When held to a fourth and 6 at the Prairie 49, they dusted off another chestnut, the quick kick. They lined up like they were going for the first down and quarterback H.D. Tuckett took the snap and kicked the ball down to the Prairie 13. Nobody was back deep to receive so that’s where the Pirates took over. Tyrell Langston picked up the slack running the ball with Schmidt out of the game and carried 5 times on the ensuing drive for 28 yards. Prairie picked up a big chunk of yardage when Holthaus connected with Conner Rieman over the middle for 32 yards.  After
Langston converted a fourth and 1 with a 9 yard gain to the Raft River
21, Holthaus connected up with Sigler for Prairie’s second touchdown. Sigler
had gotten behind Tuckett in the end zone and was wide open for Holthaus’
pass.
Waller ran in the 2-pointer to give Prairie a 14-0 lead. On their next possession Raft River moved into Prairie territory to the 39 on 6 straight running plays. Tuckett then went back to pass and must have expected his receiver to run an out when the receiver ran an in. Sigler, defending on the play, reacted to the bad pass and made a diving interception at the Prairie 20. 5 plays later Sigler again got behind Tuckett on a pass pattern and caught a deep pass over the middle from Holthaus and converted it into a 56 yard scoring play. The conversion try failed leaving Prairie with a 20-0 lead with 3:11 left in the half. Tuckett ran the ball for Raft River on 6 straight plays, picking up 19 yards then passed on two straight plays for another 36 yards to move the Trojans to the Prairie 13. On the next play Tuckett tried passing into the end zone but Waller came up with the interception. His momentum on the play carried him out of the end zone and he was tackled at the 2 yard line. Prairie then just ran out the half. Raft River received the second half kickoff but was unable to pick up a first down. Another quick kick on fourth down pinned Prairie back at their own 9. It didn’t take Prairie long though to cover the 91 yards. Langston picked up 5 yards on a sweep and followed that with an 18 yard run. Holthaus picked up 14 yards on an option run to move the ball to the Prairie 46. On the next play Waller ran behind the left tackle and broke into the open thanks to a block from Holthaus. He then wove his way downfield as nearly everyone else on the offense managed to make a block for him downfield on the way to a 54 yard scoring play. The 2-point try failed, leaving Prairie with a 26-0 lead. Prairie tried one of their famous onside kicks but Raft River had apparently scouted the play and had a player ready to recover the ball after its high bounce over the front line players at the Trojan 41. Raft River picked up a first down but an illegal procedure penalty helped keep them from getting another. On fourth down and 5 Waller tackled Tuckett for a 5 yard loss, giving Prairie the ball at their own 45. After a 4 yard run by Waller, Holthaus connected with Waller for a 19 yard pass play. On the next play with the defense worried about Sigler and Rieman on the right side, Langston came out of the backfield on the left side and was wide open for a 27 yard pass play. 
Langston then went over the right side for the final 5 yards and the touchdown. Holthaus ran in the 2-pointer to make it 34-0 with 3:28 left in the third quarter. Prairie had scored on 5 straight possessions. Prairie tried another short kickoff, this one more of a pooch kick down to the Trojan 34. The Trojans Michael Carr took the ball there and returned it to the 46 where Sigler knocked the ball loose and then recovered it for the Pirates. Prairie tried to take quick advantage of the turnover but Holthaus’ pass to Rieman was intercepted at the Raft River 21, Holthaus’ first interception of the year. The Trojans were able to take the ball down to the Prairie 23 but Langston tackled Carr for a 2 yard loss and Sigler tackled Rio Manning for a 4 yard loss on successive plays. Tuckett then passed down the sideline to Manning but Sigler popped the ball loose from Manning and it went right to Holthaus who recovered at the Prairie 24. Prairie couldn’t move the ball, thanks in large part to Sigler getting tripped as he took the handoff on what was to be an end around. That led to a 10 yard loss. Prairie had to punt for the first time in the game and his high booming punt went 49 yards chasing Manning back to the Trojan 28. He managed to return the kick out to the 48. Raft River turned the ball back to Prairie on downs at their 49 as they came up way short on a fourth down pass with Andrew Gabica making the tackle on the play. Prairie kept the ball on the ground, running 8 straight times, as they worked the clock Sigler wound up scoring the touchdown on an end around from the 9, his fourth TD of the game, with 5:07 left on the clock. The conversion try again failed leaving Prairie with a 40-0 lead. If they had converted all their 2-point tries they would’ve ended the game at that point on the 45-point rule. As it was it gave the Prairie coaches a chance to get all the subs and JV players into the game. With the second team defense on the field, Raft River was able to mount their only scoring drive of the game. They ran the ball on 9 straight plays with Tuckett going in  from
the 7 for their only touchdown with 1:06 left on the clock. Tuckett added
the 2-pointer to cut the lead to 40-8.
On the 2-point try an unsportsmanlike penalty was flagged on Prairie as the referees said Brock Heath’s cast was not taped up the way it should’ve been. He was subbed back out of the game and the penalty was enforced on the kickoff. The Trojans tried an onside kick but it bounced right to Gabica who returned the ball 17 yards to the Prairie 49. Prairie ran the ball 3 straight plays with a different 8 players on the field for each play, as they ran out the clock. For the game Prairie outgained Raft River 456 to 255 in total yardage and had just 1 turnover to 4 for the Trojans. Langston gained 98 yards on 19 carries to lead the rushing attack with Waller adding 79 yards on 7 carries, Schmidt 25 yards on 2 carries and Holthaus 27 yards on 4 carries. Prairie totaled 232 yards rushing on 37 attempts. Holthaus was 8 for 13 passing with one interception for 224 yards. Sigler caught 4 passes for 136 yards and 3 touchdowns. Langston caught 2 for 37 yards, Rieman 1 for 32 yards and Waller 1 for 19 yards. Raft River gained 209 yards rushing on 51 attempts with Tuckett gained 67 on 26 attempts, Carr 60 on 7 attempts and Manning 49 on 11 attempts. Tuckett was 5 for 9 passing with 2 interceptions for 46 yards. On defense Sigler had 15 tackles, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery and 2 forced fumbles. Waller had 12 tackles and an interception. Gabica, taking over Devin Schmidt’s linebacker spot, stepped up big on defense and had 9 tackles plus a sack. Kyler Shumway had 8 tackles plus a sack and on one of his tackles he ran down Tuckett from behind. It’s not often you see a nose tackle run down a quarterback from behind like that. Rieman had 7 tackles, Derek Schaeffer had 4 ½ tackles. Holthaus had 4 tackles and a fumble recovery. Langston had 3 tackles. The defense tackled Raft River for losses on 12 of the 60 plays they ran in the game. With their 22nd win in a row, Prairie improves to 10-0 on the season. They will play Wallace, who beat Potlatch last Saturday, this Friday at the Kibbie Dome at 7 p.m. Oakley and Castleford are in the other semifinal game with the championship game set for either Nov. 20 or 21 at Holt Arena in Pocatello. Prairie 6 14 14 6 -40 Raft River 0 0 0 8 - 8 P-Sigler 55 pass from Holthaus (pass failed) 3:29 1st P-Sigler 21 pass from Holthaus (Waller run) 8:13 2nd P-Sigler 56 pass from Holthaus (run failed) 3:11 2nd P-Waller 54 run (pass failed) 8:18 3rd P-Langston 5 run (Holthaus run) 3:28 3rd P-Sigler 9 run (run failed) 5:07 4th R-Tuckett 7 run (Tuckett run) 1:06 4th
 Night shoot week 4 results We are past the halfway point and it's all back and forth. The race is close. We had some great scores this week as five shooters shot perfect 25's. Darrel Uhlorn of City Electric, Pepper Harman of Harman Agency, Mark Baune of 3 ol' Farts & 2 Pups, Scott Jungert and Andy Goeckner of City Electric were this weeks' All Stars.... Good Job! The leading teams trying to win that top spot are 3 Ol' Farts & 2 Pups with 834, NezPerce Construction with a 829 and Winchester Gun Club on their tail with an 822. We have two weeks left of shooting....Keep up the pace guys! 11-C.V., there, won 58-8 18-Potlatch, here, won 59-8 25-Timberline, there, won 54-6 9-Genesee, there, won 55-6 16-Troy, here, won 48-0 23-Deary, there, won 48-0 30-Kendrick, here, won 52-6 13-vs. Wallace, 7 p.m., Kibbie Dome 20/21-Championship, Holt Arena, Pocatello |
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