| Pirates
win Homecoming game
The Prairie Pirates got their second straight big offensive showing as they defeated Lapwai 58-42 at Homecoming Friday, Sept. 21 at Cottonwood. The game went on despite the smoky air that led to Grangeville canceling their Homecoming game the same night. 
It was also a costly win as Prairie lost two players to injuries after losing another one during practice earlier in the week. Dakota Wilson, starting guard on offense and linebacker on defense, suffered a dislocated elbow earlier in the week and starting quarterback Jake Bruner suffered the same injury during the game to his non-throwing arm. Both are expected to miss at least 3 weeks. Prairie also lost Rhett Schlader to a broken right arm in the first quarter while he was playing defense. He also serves as Prairie’s third string quarterback. He is likely done for the football season. Before Bruner got injured he was lighting it up at quarterback as he continued his hot hand from the Kendrick game. He completed 5 of 6 passes with 4 of those completions going for touchdowns. After the injury Marcus Higgins came in and added 2 more touchdown passes. Prairie kicked off to Lapwai to open the game and forced a punt after just 3 plays. A long punt return by Isaiah Shears got called back on a penalty and Prairie had to start at their own 45. Their first play from scrimmage wound up being Bruner’s only incomplete pass of the game. He made up for it 2 plays later when he connected on a pass to a wide open Higgins along the left sideline with Higgins going the rest of the way untouched on a 53 yard scoring play. After the 2-point try failed, Prairie led 6-0. The Pirates got the ball right back when Garrett Schmidt knocked the ball loose from Lapwai’s Shelby Leighton and Matt Schwartz recovered at the Lapwai 25. Two running plays netted just 3 yards then Bruner tossed a screen pass to the left to Seth Chaffee and the blockers sprung Chaffee for a 22 yard scoring play. The 2-point try again came up short as Prairie led 12-0. Lapwai finally picked up a first down on their next possession thanks to an offside penalty on the Pirates. 3 plays later though the center snap never got back to Leighton and Bruner recovered at the Prairie 38.  Schmidt
went 12 yards up the middle to get to midfield. On the next play Bruner
hit Higgins in full stride on a pass over the middle for a 50 yard scoring
play. Bruner then passed to Chaffee for the 2-pointer to give Prairie a
20-0 lead.
On Lapwai’s next possession they changed up from having Leighton run the ball on every play to having him pass the ball and moved down to the Prairie 19 before consecutive sacks, one by Lucas Arnzen and the other by Schwartz, pushed them back to the 28. Two incomplete passes later Prairie took over on downs. Bruner was sacked for an 8 yard loss on first down but then connected with a wide-open Chaffee on the right side and Chaffee took it 63 yards before being tackled at the Lapwai 17. A 3 yard run by Arnzen and an 11 yard run by Schmidt moved the ball to the 3. On the next play Bruner went right up the middle for another touchdown. He then passed to Schmidt for the 2-pointer to make it 28-0 with 58 seconds still left to go in the first quarter. Lapwai changed quarterbacks on their next possession and it paid off quickly as Jacob Shults picked up 21 yards on a running play and then pass for 37 for a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. Leighton ran in the 2-pointer to make it 28-8. Prairie came right back with the running game with Hunter McWilliams bursting through for a 41 yard gain after Schmidt had netted 11 and a first down on 2 runs. A penalty at the end of the run added another 15 to move the ball to the Lapwai 18. Bruner then picked up 7 yards on a run then found Higgins wide open in the end zone on the next play for an 11 yard scoring play. The 2-point try came up short to make it 34-8. Lapwai came right back with another touchdown with Schults completed 3 of 7 pass attempts and running on the other two plays including the final yard for the touchdown. After a successful 2-point try Lapwai had cut the lead to 34-16. Hunter McWilliams made a great kickoff return of 37 yards to the Lapwai 48 but the ball got knocked loose at the end of the return and Lapwai recovered. Lapwai moved down to the Prairie 13 before Bruner ended the threat with an interception at the 15. Prairie was able to get a first down at the 26 but on the next play Bruner went back to pass and was rushed by the Wildcats. He backpedaled as he looked to get the ball away but wound up getting tackled clear back at the 2 yard line and was injured on the play. 
Higgins moved from receiver back to quarterback and Arnzen was able to gain 13 yards to get Prairie back out to the 15 but were then forced to punt. Lapwai took just 3 plays to score again with Schults connecting with Kyley Payne for 50 yards. The 2-point try failed but Lapwai had cut the lead to 34-22. Prairie was forced to punt again but time ran out in the half before Lapwai could do anything else. Prairie received the second half kickoff and after a first down incompletion stuck to the running game. Arnzen picked up 5, 4 and 3 yards to give the Pirates a first down at their own 32. On the next play Arnzen went around left end and was able to break loose and go 68 yards for a Prairie touchdown. Higgins passed to Schmidt for the 2-pointer to make it 42-22. Lapwai was able to get to the Prairie 39 before 3 incomplete passes and then an illegal forward pass on 4th down turned the ball over to Prairie at the 49. Prairie put together a 10 play drive, with 8 of those plays being runs, that put the ball on the 9 yard line. Higgins then found Chaffee wide open for a 9-yard touchdown pass. Schmidt ran in the 2-pointer to put Prairie up 50-22. Lapwai was forced to punt after 3 plays on their next possession with Prairie taking over at their own 40. On a third and 6 play from the 44 Higgins tossed a short pass out to Chaffee on the left side. Chaffee was able to turn up field and go 56 yards for another touchdown. Arnzen ran in the 2-pointer to give Prairie a 58-22 lead with 49 seconds left in the third quarter. Lapwai looked to answer but Tannor Ross intercepted a Schults pass at the Prairie 42 and returned it to the 48. Keeping to the running game the Prairie were able to move the ball down to the 16 before having to turn the ball over on downs. Lapwai took over at the 22 and put Leighton back in at quarterback. They had 8 running plays, all by Leighton, and 2 passes, one of which was completed for 40 yards as they drove the length of the field for a touchdown. The 2-point conversion made it 58-30. Lapwai then got the ball right back as they recovered an onside kick after it bounced off a Prairie player to the Lapwai 40. The Wildcats went more pass than run this time and scored again in 7 plays to cut the lead to 58-36. Prairie was forced to punt and Lapwai turned the ball over on downs after moving down to the Prairie 17. Unfortunately Prairie fumbled the ball right back on the next play and Lapwai was able to score to cut the lead to 58-42. The fortunate thing for Prairie was that there was only 1:08 left in the game by that point. This time Prairie recovered the onside kick attempt and were able to run out the clock with Higgins dropping to a knee 3 straight plays. Prairie was able to pile up 504 yards of offense in the game, 242 rushing on 45 attempts and 262 passing on 8 completions. Arnzen wound up with 143 yards rushing on 17 attempts while Schmidt added 64 on 12 attempts and McWilliams had 55 yards on 6 attempts. Bruner completed 5 of 6 passes for 199 yards and 4 touchdowns. You wonder what kind of numbers he might’ve had if he had played the entire game. Higgins started slow but wound up hitting 3 of 10 attempts for 63 yards and 2 touchdowns. Chaffee caught 4 passes for 150 yards and 3 touchdowns. Higgins caught 3 for 114 yards and 3 touchdowns. Schmidt caught 1 pass for –2 yards. Lapwai had 475 yards of offense, 103 rushing on 35 attempts and 372 passing on 18 completions. Leighton gained 63 yards on 24 rushes while Schults had 40 on 11 attempts. Leighton completed 8 of 20 passes with no interceptions for 194 yards while Schults was 10 for 25 with 2 interceptions and 178 yards. Payne had 6 catches for 144 yards to lead Lapwai. With the win Prairie evens their record at 2-2 overall and 1-1 in league. They have another league game this Friday, Sept. 28 at Clearwater Valley at 7 p.m. Lapwai 0 22 0 20 -42 Prairie 28 6 24 0 -58 P-Higgins 53 pass from Bruner (pass failed) 9:49 1st P-Chaffee 66 pass from Bruner (run failed) 8:20 1st P-Higgins 50 pass from Bruner (Chaffee pass from Bruner) 5:49 1st P-Bruner 3 run (Schmidt pass from Bruner) 0:58 1st L-Zimmerman 37 pass from Schults (Leighton run) 11:57 2nd P-Higgins 11 pass from Bruner (run failed) 9:49 2nd L-Schults 1 run (Payne pass from Schults) 7:35 2nd L-Payne 50 pass from Schults (run failed) 1:19 2nd P-Arnzen 68 run (Schmidt pass from Higgins) 10:11 3rd P-Chaffee 9 pass from Higgins (Schmidt run) 3:35 3rd P-Chaffee 56 pass from Higgins (Arnzen run) 0:49 3rd L-Leighton 8 run (Payne pass from Leighton) 5:31 4th L-Payne 35 pass from Leighton (pass failed) 3:59 4th L-Payne 23 pass from Leighton (pass failed) 1:08 4th
 Youth wrestling signups are Monday The Cottonwood Wrestling Club will hold signups and begin practices on Monday, October 1, 2012 at 6:30 PM at the Prairie Auxiliary Gym. Practices will be held every Monday and Wednesday evening from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM for youths ages 5 and up. Signup fees will be $25.00, which includes USA Wrestling card fee, to be paid before first practice and new youth signups will need to provide a copy of their birth certificate. Tournaments will be held on Saturdays beginning October 20th; locations include Potlatch, Lewiston, Grangeville, and Clarkston. For more information contact Dan Altman at 208 962-3131. PIRATES BOYS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2012 17-Kendrick, there, won 76-34 21-Lapwai, here, Homecoming, won 58-42 28-C.V., there 12-Lakeside, here 19-Troy, here 26-Potlatch, there 9-Kibbie Dome, TBA 16-Championship, TBA PHS JV FOOTBALL SCHEDULE 8-Kamiah, here 22-Lewis County, here PRAIRIE JUNIOR HIGH FOOTBALL SCHEDULE 11-Lapwai, here 18-Lewis County, here |
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