Pirates win big at Troy
The Prairie Pirates ended their regular season the same way as the rest of it, with a lopsided win that saw a running clock throughout the second half. This time they beat Troy 66-14 at Troy on Thursday, Oct. 22.
Troy officials were seeing a big snow storm coming in on Friday that was supposed to drop up to 10 inches on the Palouse, so they asked Prairie if they would mind playing on Thursday instead.
It didn’t take long for Prairie to score as T.J. Hibbard almost returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. He took it 55 yards from the Prairie 40 down to the 5 where he was tackled. He was given the ball on the next play and ran it in from the 5 just 19 seconds into the game. The 2-point try failed as Prairie led 6-0.
Troy went backwards on their first possession as they started with a penalty and then had a fumble set them back another 12 yards. They punted with Prairie taking over at the 50.
Brody Hasselstrom almost broke it for a score as he went 34 yards on the first play. Hibbard picked up 9 to move the ball to the 7 and Hasselstrom scored on the next play. Hasselstrom ran in the 2-pointer to make it 14-0.
A messed up punt play gave Prairie the ball back on the Troy 21. After an incomplete pass, Dalton Ross got to carry the ball and took it 21 yards to the end zone. Cole Schlader tried a kick but missed as Prairie led 20-0.
Troy finally had what looked like big play on their next possession as they gained 25 yards on a run only to fumble it at the end. Colton McElroy picked up the fumble at the 50 and took the ball to the end zone for a defensive touchdown. With the 2-point try failing, Prairie led 26-0.
Troy had to punt again with Prairie taking over at the 50. This time senior lineman Dean Johnson got a chance to carry the ball and took it 50 yards to the end zone for a touchdown. Cole Schlader passed to Wyatt Ross for the 2-pointer to make it 34-0.
Another punt by Troy saw Prairie taking over at the Troy 20 after an 18 yard return by Wyatt Ross.
After a misfire due to a fumble on first down, Jesse Cronan ran the ball in from the 20 for another touchdown. Hasselstrom ran in the 2-pointer to make it 40-0 with 2:41 still left in the first quarter.
Another Troy punt saw Prairie take over at their own 45. Schlader completed a pass to Hasselstrom for a 43 yard gain down to the 12. Hibbard ran the ball in on the next play. The 2-point try failed leaving Prairie with a 46-0 lead with 19 seconds still left in the first quarter.
Troy managed to pick up a couple of first down before fumbling the ball away at the Prairie 42. Hasselstrom picked up the fumble and went 58 yards for Prairie’s second defensive score of the game. Hibbard ran in the 2-pointer to make it 54-0.
Troy finally got on the scoreboard when they got a 41 yard run from Rider Patrick. They added the 2-pointer to make it 54-8.
Prairie came right back with an 8 play, 66 yards drive for another touchdown as Jesse Cronan carried the final 10 yards for the touchdown that made it 60-8 as the conversion try failed.
That’s where it stood at the half which meant a running clock the entire second half. The Troy coach agreed to go with the modified running clock where it doesn’t stop even on scoring plays.
Troy got good field position after the second half kickoff thanks to a 15 yard penalty on the tackle but couldn’t capitalize on it. On their second play the ballcarrier had the ball knocked loose and Hasselstrom plucked it out of the air and took the ball from the 49 all the way to the 10 yard line.
Hasselstrom then bulled his way through the middle for a touchdown. The 2-point run was stopped leaving Prairie with a 66-8 lead.
Troy answered back with a long scoring pass as Darrick Bauer connected with Patrick on a 60 yard pass play. The 2-point pass was incomplete making it 66-14 with 5:00 left in the third quarter.
Ravin Cronan picked up 28 yards on Prairie’s first play after the kickoff but 2 plays later a fumble gave the ball to Troy.
Troy moved the ball across midfield before turning the ball over as Trenton Lorentz made an interception at the Prairie 31.
Prairie up a first down when Lane Schumacher completed a pass to McElroy for 15 yards but the clock then ran out.
Prairie had 284 yards rushing on 30 attempts led by Hasselstrom who had 52 yards on 4 carries. Johnson had 50 yards on 1 carry. Lorentz had 36 yards on 6 carries. Jesse Cronan had 35 yards on 3 carries. Travis Alfrey had 32 yards on 7 carries. Ravin Cronan had 28 yards on 1 carry. Hibbard had 26 yards on 3 carries and Dalton Ross had 21 yards on 1 carry.
Schlader completed 2 of 4 passes for 76 yards and Schumacher was 1 for 1 for 15 yards.
Hasselstrom had 1 catch for 44 yards. Matt Coppernoll had 1 for 32 yards and McElroy 1 for 15 yards.
Troy had 57 yards rushing on 28 attempts and their passers were 6 for 16 for 121 yards.
A special thanks to Ryan Hasselstrom and stat keeper Sage Elven for the play by play as we didn’t get to the game until the second half due to District Volleyball.
Prairie will be the #1 seed in the state playoffs and will get this weekend off. Once the first round games are done the 4 winners will be reseeded 5 through 8 and Prairie will play the #8 seeded team at a date, time and place to be determined.
Prairie 46 14 6 0 -66
Troy     0   8 6 0 -14
P-Hibbard 5 run (pass failed) 1:41 1^st
P-Hasselstrom 7 run (Hasselstrom run) 9:00 1^st
P-D. Ross 21 run (kick failed) 8:37 1^st
P-McElroy 50 fumble return (pass failed) 7:23 1^st
P-Johnson 50 run (D. Ross pass from Schlader) 5:42 1^st
P-J. Cronan 20 run (run failed) 2:41 1^st
P-Hibbard 12 run (pass failed) 0:19 1^st
P-Hasselstrom 58 fumble return (Hibbard run) 9:27 2^nd
T-Patrick 40 run (Blazzard pass from Beier) 7:11 2^nd
P-J. Cronan 10 run (kick failed) 3:00 2^nd
P-Hasselstrom 10 run (run failed) 8:20 3^rd
T-Patrick 60 pass from Baier (pass failed) 4:58 3^rd