| Pirates
win big over Salmon River
The Prairie football team bounced back from a season-opening loss to win their home opener 52-34 over Salmon River Monday, Sept. 11 at Cottonwood. The Pirates, with backup Damian Forsmann playing at quarterback for injured Spencer Schumacher, came out running the ball on every down, then worked in the pass to good effect. A fumble ended the Pirates opening possession but they were able to stop the Savages on fourth down and  got
the ball back at their own 49.
Ten straight running plays ensued, 6 of them by Jake Stubbers for 18 yards with a 21 yard burst up the middle for Caleb McWilliams thrown in. Forsmann wound up scoring the touchdown on a quarterback sneak from the 1. Forsmann then passed to McWilliams for the 2-pointer to make it 8-0. The defense again stopped the Savages, who went for it on fourth and 12 from their own 34, giving Prairie back the ball at the Salmon River 31. Prairie faced a fourth down and 19 after a penalty and a loss on a running play. Forsmann connected on a deep slant over the middle to Nick Mager for 29 yards and a first down at the 11. Stubbers then burst up the middle for 11 yards and the touchdown on the next play. The conversion failed but Prairie now led 14-0. The defense again forced Salmon River to turn the ball over on downs, this time at the Prairie 33. McWilliams went up the middle for 24 yards on the first play with 5 more added on for a facemask penalty. Two plays later Forsmann kept the ball on an option to the left, broke a tackle at about the 20 and cut back to the middle, outrunning the defenders for a 38 yard scoring run. Stubbers ran in the 2-pointer for a 22-0 lead just over 2 minutes into the second quarter. Salmon River answered as quarterback Devan Branstetter made a deep connection with Randy McClure for 37 yards to set the Savages up on the Prairie 14 yard line. 3 plays later Canyon Harper scored from the 6 and then added the 2-pointer to cut the lead to 22-8. Prairie nearly answered right back as they moved the ball down to the Salmon River 13 but Forsmann’s pass was intercepted in the end zone and Salmon River took the ball 80 yards in 11 plays to get back in the game. The final 21 yards were another Branstetter to McClure pass. The conversion try failed, but Salmon River had closed within 1 touchdown at 22-14. Prairie took the momentum right back though as Stubbers fumbled the kickoff but then picked up the ball at the 24 and took it 76 yards for a touchdown. Prairie led 28-14 after the conversion try failed. After 4 incomplete passes by Salmon River, Prairie took over at their 44 with 1.6 seconds left. They decided to run a play instead of taking a knee and it nearly cost them as Branstetter intercepted Forsmann’s pass and if not for a saving tackled by Forsmann might have scored. Salmon River received the second half kickoff and a bad snap on third and 8 led to a 17 yard loss and a punt by the Savages. Prairie took over on their own 17. After a 3 yard gain by Stubbers, Stubbers again got the ball and burst through the middle for an 80 yard scoring play. Forsmann passed to Mager for the 2-pointer to make it 36-14.  Prairie
then got the ball right back on a fumble recovery with Michael Schwartz
picking up the fumble forced by Derik Shears at the Salmon River 25.
On first down Forsmann passed to Stubbers down the right side and Stubbers was finally tackled at the 1 yard line. After a false start penalty, McWilliams took the ball in from the 6 for the touchdown. Forsmann ran in the 2-pointer to make it 44-14 with 6:58 left in the third quarter. Salmon River then came out in their power I formation when Harper took the snap at tailback and basically has the other 7 guys all blocking for him. He went 56 yards for the touchdown the first time the Savages went to that formation. McWilliams stopped the 2-point try to make it 44-20. Prairie looked to answer and moved down to the Salmon River 35 where Forsmann’s pass to Shears got tipped and Branstetter intercepted. Salmon River stayed in the power I but the defense was more prepared and were able to stop Harper on fourth and 4 from the Prairie 31 as he came up just inches short of a first down. Prairie took over at their own 27 and 2 pass completions to Mager for 15 and 21 yards moved Prairie to the Salmon River 30. After a 1 yard gain by McWilliams, Forsmann ran an option to the right and cut off the right tackle and went 29 yards untouched for his third touchdown of the game. Freshman Cole Martin ran in the 2-pointer to make it 52-20 with 9:09 left. Salmon River answered back with a 7 play, 50 yard drive for a touchdown and added the 2-pointer to cut the lead to 52-28. Prairie moved the ball down to the Salmon River 35 where Forsmann slipped as he went back to pass and was tackled for a 12 yard loss. Prairie tried a tackle eligible trick play on fourth down with Jace Perrin catching Forsmann’s pass but he came up well short of the first down. Salmon River managed to score again with Harper going for 47 yards on a pass after Branstetter had to scramble away from the rush. The 2-point try was stopped, making it 52-34 with just 1:23 left to play. Prairie was then able to take a knee and run out the clock. Stubbers wound up gaining 145 yards on 18 carries with Forsmann adding 64 yards on 8 carries, McWilliams 59 on 6 carries and Shears 42 yards on 7 carries as Prairie rolled up 311 yards rushing on 43 attempts. Forsmann was 10 for 15 passing with 3 interceptions for 145 yards. Mager caught 3 passes for 65 yards with Shears catching 3 for 29. Stubbers caught 2 for 39 yards and Owen Anderson and Perrin each caught 1 pass for 7 and 5 yards respectively. Harper gained 174 yards on 26 carries for the Savages and added 92 yards on 6 catches. Salmon River rushed for 179 yards on 35 attempts. Branstetter was 12 for 24 for 199 yards. Harper was 0 for 4 passing. McClure added 93 yards on 4 catches and Peyton Baugh caught 2 for 14 yards. Perrin led the Pirates in tackles with 12. McWilliams added 6½ with Nick Mager collecting 5½ and Shears 4½. Schwartz had 2 tackles and a fumble recovery. Stubbers and Dean Johnson each had 2 tackles. Garrett Bunce had 1½ while Carson Schmidt, Sam Mager, Owen Anderson, Dereck Arnzen and Reid Uptmor each had 1 tackles. Prairie is now 1-1 on the season and play another non-league foe this Friday at Cottonwood as they play Council at 6 p.m. Prairie 14 14 16 8 -52 Salmon River 0 14 6 14 -34 P-Forsmann 1 run (McWilliams pass from Forsmann) 4:31 1st P-Stubbers 11 run (run failed) 2:09 1st P-Forsmann 38 run (Stubbers run) 9:56 2nd SR-harper 6 run (Harper run) 8:12 2nd SR-McClure 21 pass from Branstetter (run failed) 0:36.8 2nd P-Stubbers 76 kickoff return (run failed) 0:23.8 2nd P-Stubbers 80 run (N. Mager pass from Forsmann) 8:00 3rd P-McWilliams 6 run (Forsmann run) 6:56 3rd SR-Harper 56 run (run failed) 6:30 3rd P-Forsmann 29 run (Martin run) 9:09 4th SR-Baugh 4 pass from Branstetter (Harper pass from Branstetter) 7:38 4th SR-Harper 47 pass from Branstetter (pass failed) 1:23 4th
PIRATES BOYS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2017 11-Salmon River, here, won 52-34 15-Council, here, 6 p.m. 22-C.V.*, there 29-Kamiah*, here 14-Wallace*, there, 2 p.m. 20-Potlatch*, here 27-Lapwai*, there 10 or 11-State Semifinals 17 or 18-State Championship *League Game September 18-Kamiah, there, 6 p.m. 28-at Grangeville, 6 p.m. 9-Deary, here, 6 p.m. 16-Gar-Pal, at Lapwai, 6 p.m. PIRATES JR. HIGH FOOTBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2017 14-C.V., there 21-Kamiah, here 26-Lewis County, there 12-Timberline, there 19-Lapwai, there |
 |
