| Pirates
win at Wilder
The Prairie Pirates traveled to Wilder Friday, Nov. 3 and came away with a 54-6 win to advance to the semifinals of the state football playoffs. They will play Oakley Friday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. at the Kibbie Dome with the winner of that game advancing to play in the state championship game the following week. Genesee, with a huge win over Valley, faces Challis in the other semifinal, Saturday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m., also in the Kibbie Dome. 
The weather at Wilder was cold and rainy with only a couple of brief periods during the game when the rain wasn’t pouring down. Prairie did not get off to the greatest of starts as they let the opening kickoff roll around, apparently looking for it to go out of bounds. Wilder wound up recovering the ball at the Prairie 25 for what amounted to a 35 yard onside kick. Wilder needed just 6 plays to score and take a 0-6 lead as Prairie stopped the 2-point try. Wilder tried another onside kick but just tipped the ball off the tee. Since the ball did not come close to traveling the required 10 yards to make it a live ball, Prairie took over at the Wilder 41. Jake Stubbers picked up gains of 9 and 7 yards and Caleb McWilliams nearly scored on a 23 yard run that set up first and goal at the 2. A holding penalty followed by a false start set the Pirates back to the 16 but Spencer Schumacher was able to run a keeper to the right and score from there. Stubbers added the 2-pointer to give Prairie the lead at 8-6. Wilder was forced to punt and Schumacher blocked the punt with Owen Anderson recovering the ball at the Wilder 39. Prairie moved down to the Wilder 24 where they faced a fourth down and Schumacher passed to a wide open Stubbers for an apparent touchdown. A penalty wiped that out and set the Pirates back to the 29. This time Schumacher found Hunter Chaffee open and scored the touchdown anyway. Stubbers again ran in the 2-pointer for a 16-6 lead. Prairie got the ball right back when Anderson recovered a Wilder fumble at the Wilder 44. 5 plays later Stubbers got his touchdown on a 16 yard sweep around right end. Schumacher ran in the 2-pointer to make it 24-6 two plays into the second quarter. Wilder used their passing game to get deep into Pirate territory, getting a first down at the Prairie 16. 3 running plays left them facing fourth and 3 from the 9 and Nick Mager batted away the fourth down pass attempt as Prairie took over on downs. Prairie moved the ball from their own 9 down to the Wilder 22 where Schumacher underthrew a pass to Chaffee that was intercepted by Wilder at the 15 and returned to the 20. Wilder was forced to punt and this time Jace Perrin blocked the punt with Prairie taking over at the Wilder 25. A 15 yard run by Schumacher set Prairie up with a first down just outside the 10. Stubbers gained 8 on a seep and Schumacher then scored from the 2. The 2-point pass fell incomplete but Prairie still led 30-6 with 11 seconds left in the half. Wilder received the second half kickoff but were forced to punt after losing 6 yards in 3 plays. This time they finally got the punt off and it rolled dead at the Prairie 27. Prairie ran 8 straight running plays and finished off the 73 yard drive with a 1 yard quarterback sneak by Schumacher. Cole Martin ran in the 2-pointer to make it 38-6. Wilder was again forced to punt and Prairie need just 3 plays to score from their own 42.  After
an incomplete pass, Anderson picked up 15 yards and Stubbers followed that
with a 43 yard scoring run. Schumacher ran in the 2 point which gave Prairie
a 46-6 lead and invoked the running clock mercy rule.
Wilder was forced to punt again and Prairie took over on their own 40. Anderson gained 5 yards on first down and then Martin ran over the right side and broke into the clear for a 55 yard touchdown. He also ran in the 2-pointer to make it 54-6. The ensuing kickoff wound up being the final play of the third quarter due to the running clock. Wilder took over at their own 25 and with their JV offense against Prairie’s JV defense, Wilder worked the ball down the field to set up a first and goal at the 2. 3 running plays were stuffed for a total of 1 yard and the fourth down pass fell incomplete on what turned out to be the final play of the game. Stubbers wound up gaining 199 yards on 25 rushing plays as Prairie rolled up 415 yards on 44 attempts. Schumacher added 75 yards on 9 carries, Martin 55 on 1 carry, McWilliams 52 on 5 carries and Anderson 31 on 4 carries. Schumacher was 2 for 5 passing with an interception for 37 yards. Chaffee caught 1 pass for 29 yards and Anderson 1 for 8 yards. Wilder was held to 67 yards rushing on 38 attempts and they were 8 for 15 passing for 104 yards. Anderson led the defense with 5 tackles plus a fumble recovery. Schumacher and Martin each had 4½ tackles. Jayce Huling and 4 tackles and a sack. Stubbers and Perrin each had 3½ tackles. McWilliams and Sam Mager each had 3 tackles. Matt Seubert had 2 tackles. Nick Mager, Chaffee, Hayden Uhlenkott, Damian Forsmann, Reid Uptmor, Garrett bunce, Carson Forsman and Guiherme Acciardi each had 1 tackle. Prairie is now 9-1 on the season. Prairie 16 14 24 0 -54 Wilder 6 0 0 0 - 6 W-Gonzalez 3 pass from Martinez (pass failed) 9:12 1st P-Schumacher 16 run (Stubbers run) 7:21 1st P-Chaffee 29 pass from Schumacher (Stubbers run) 2:05 1st P-Stubbers 16 run (Schumacher run) 11:24 2nd P-Schumacher 2 run (pass failed) 0:11.1 2nd P-Schumacher 1 run (Martin run) 8:11 3rd P-Stubbers 43 run (Schumacher run) 6:03 3rd P-Martin 55 run (Martin run) 2:34 3rd
Sam Mager makes a tackle to keep a Wilder runner out of the end zone on a goal line stand to end the game. PIRATES BOYS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2017 11-Salmon River, here, won 52-34 15-Council, here, 6 p.m., won 60-8 22-C.V.*, there, won 64-28 29-Kamiah*, here, Homecoming, won 38-12 14-Wallace*, there, 2 p.m., won 66-14 20-Potlatch*, here, won by forfeit 2-0 27-Lapwai*, there, won 52-14 10-State Semifinals vs Oakley at the Kibbie Dome, 7 p.m. 17 or 18-State Championship *League Game |
 |
