Pirates win 60-20 at Kendrick
The Prairie football team picked up where they left off last year with a 60-20 win at Kendrick Friday, Sept. 4 in their season opener.
Returning state player of the year, Cole Martin, picked up 248 yards rushing and scored 3 touchdowns to lead the way.
For the second year in a row a player named Cole scored a touchdown on Prairie’s first offensive play of the game. Last year it was Martin against Raft River. This year it was Cole Schlader who carried the ball 40 yards to put Prairie up 6-0 just 14 seconds into the game.
Prairie got the ball at the 40 when Shane Hanson’s squib kickoff hit a Kendrick player and Tayden Hibbard recovered the ball.
Kendrick came right back like they were going to at least tie the game as they completed a couple of long passes to set up first and goal at the 7. There the Prairie defense stiffened as a sack of freshman quarterback Ty Koepp by Dean Johnson had the Tigers facing fourth and goal from the 15.
Schlader then intercepted Koepp’s fourth down pass at the 5 and returned it to the 26.
A false start penalty contributed to the Pirates facing a fourth and 5 at their own 31. Coach Ryan Hasselstrom gambled and went for it on fourth down as Martin took the ball on a sweep tot the left and raced down the sidelines for a 69 yard scoring play. Brody Hasselstrom was the lead blocker on the play and helped Martin break past the defense. Schlader completed a pass to John Gehring for the 2-point conversion to make it 14-0.
Kendrick’s next possession ended in disaster as they were faced a fourth and 13 from their own 27. A bad snap to punter Koepp led to a 12 yard loss as Jesse Cronan made the tackle. Prairie took over at the Kendrick 15 yard line.
A false start penalty set the Pirates back 5 yards but Martin picked up 13 on a sweep to the right to set up third and 2 at the 7. Hasselstrom took the ball up the middle into the end zone on the next play. Hasselstrom then added the 2-pointer to make it 22-0.
Prairie had great coverage on the ensuing kickoff as Hibbard tackled Koepp on the return back at the 10 yard line.
Koepp fumbled on the next play with Hasselstrom picking up the ball at the 5 and carrying it in for another Pirate touchdown. Martin added the 2-pointer to make it 30-0 with 1:56 left in the first quarter.
Kendrick finally got on the scoreboard on the ensuing kickoff when freshman Hunter Taylor took the kickoff at the 14 and wound up going 86 yards for a touchdown. That made it 30-6 as 3 touchdowns had been scored within 31 seconds of clock time.
Kendrick tried an onside kick but Gehring was able to recover the ball at the Prairie 45.
Schlader fumbled on the next play but Martin was able to pick up the ball and gain 16 yards to the 39. Martin added another 9 yards on the next play. Hasselstrom converted the first down with an 11 yard gain over the right side. Hasselstrom then gained 8 yards over the left side as the first quarter ended.
On the first play of the second quarter Schlader ran a keeper right up the middle for an 11 yard scoring play. The 2-point try failed but Prairie now led 36-6 just 4 seconds into the second quarter.
Kendrick went 3 and out and Hasselstrom covered the punt at the Kendrick 42.
Hasselstrom picked up a first down with a 10 yard run then appeared to score a touchdown from the 31 on a short pass to the left on the next play. A penalty called it back but 2 plays later Martin went around the right side for 38 yards and his second touchdown of the night.
Again the 2-point try failed, making it 42-6.
Kendrick was able to move the ball out to their 45 on their next possession but Schlader made his second interception of the game on a deep pass to the Prairie 20 and returned the ball 58 yards to the Kendrick 18.
Martin converted a fourth and 3 at the 11 with a 6 yard gain to set up first and goal at the 5. 3 plays later Hasselstrom burst through the middle for a touchdown that made it 48-6 as the 2-point try again came up short.
Hanson’s kickoff rolled to the 5 yard line where Kendrick covered the ball for no return. Kendrick then ran out the clock to end the first half.
Prairie’s 42 point lead meant the entire second half would be played with a running clock.
Hasselstrom returned the second half kickoff 14 yards to the Prairie 46.
Martin ran a sweep to the right and picked up 29 yards to the Kendrick 25. Schlader picked up 9 on a keeper and Martiin converted the first down with a 1 yard gain. Schlader then picked up 13 yards up the middle to set up first and goal at the 2. Martin scored on the next play to make it 54-6 as the 2-point pass failed.
Kendrick completed a couple of passes to move the ball down to the Prairie 33 but the drive stalled as a fourth down pass was incomplete.
Prairie took over at that point and Martin went left for 39 yards on second down.
A personal foul penalty moved Prairie back to the Kendrick 43. Hasselstrom picked up 7 yards to the 36 and then was wide open on the left side and got to keep the touchdown this time as he went 36 yards for the score. That made it 60-6 with 19 seconds left in the third quarter as the 2-point run came up just short.
Kendrick finally got their first offensive touchdown of the game as they completed 3 straight deep passes for gains of 25, 21 and 19 yards. Koepp added the 2-pointer on a run to make it 60-14 early in the fourth quarter.
Prairie came up short on a fourth down pass and turned the ball back to Kendrick at the Prairie 40.
Two pass completions from Koepp to sophomore Jagger Hewett put Kendrick in the end zone again. The 2-point try came up short as the Tigers cut the deficit to 60-20.
Prairie picked up a first down on their next possession but a penalty led to them turning the ball over on downs at their own 36.
Kendrick tried passing again but this time the Pirates amped up their pass rush. Hibbard forced a desperation incompletion and on the next play Hibbard and Johnson combined to sack Koepp for a 9 yard loss.
Kendrick’s fourth down pass fell incomplete as the game ended.
Prairie picked up 387 yards rushing on 36 attempts. Martin picked up his 248 yards on 19 carries. Schlader added 73 yards on 6 carries and Hasselstrom had 66 yards on 10 carries.
Schlader completed 3 of 8 passes, all to Hasselstrom, for 39 yards.
The Prairie defense smothered the Tigers’ rushing attack as Kendrick gained just 7 yards on 22 attempts. Koepp completed 11 of 20 passes with 2 interceptions, for 209 yards. Hewett had 6 catches for 147 yards.
Schlader led the defense with 6 tackles and 2 interceptions. Gehring also had 6 tackles. Johnson had 5.5 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Hibbard had 2.5 tackles and half a sack. Cronan had 2.5 tackles. Hasselstrom had 2 tackles and fumble recovery. Martin and Dalton Ross each had 2 tackles. Matt Coppernoll, Lane Schumacher and Chase Kaschmitter each added a tackle.
Prairie is now 1-0 on the season and will open league play this Friday, Sept. 11, with a game at C.V.
Prairie      30 18 12   0 -60
Kendrick   0   6   0 14 -20
P-Schlader 40 run (pass failed) 11:46 1^st
P-Martin 69 run (Gehring pass from Schlader) 5:36 1^st
P-Hasselstrom 7 run (Hasselstrom run) 2:13 1^st
P-Hasselstrom 5 fumble return (Martin run) 1:56 1^st
K-Taylor 86 kickoff return (pass failed) 1:42 1^st
P-Schlader 11 run (pass failed) 11:56 2^nd
P-Martin 38 run (run failed) 9:01 2^nd
P-Hasselstrom 4 run (pass failed) 2:07 2^nd
P-Martin 2 run (pass failed) 9:46 3^rd
P-Hasselstrom 36 pass from Schlader (run failed) 0:19 3^rd
K-Hewett 19 pass from Koepp (Koepp run) 11:00 4^th
K-Hewett 10 pass from Koepp (run failed) 7:08 4^th