Pirates fall to Lapwai
The Lapwai Wildcats pulled away in the second half as they ended Prairie’s season 36-68 in a state quarterfinal game Friday, Nov. 5 at Cottonwood.
The major differences between this game and the game earlier in the season that Prairie won over Lapwai were turnovers and Brody Hasslestrom. On October 8 Lapwai had 6 turnovers while this time they had none. Also on Oct. 8, Hasselstrom rushed for 155 yards and 4 touchdowns and had 4 tackles plus a fumble recovery while this time he had to sit out the game due to surgery 2 weeks earlier. Another major difference was that Prairie held Lapwai quarterback Titus Yearout in check running the ball while this time he was nearly unstoppable with 246 yards rushing on 30 attempts and also completed 16 of 28 for 256 yards.
Another big difference was Prairie’s passing game, which was almost non-existent, as Lane Schumacher completed just 2 of 11 pass attempts for 23 yards.
T.J. Hibbard and Trenton Lorentz made for an effective running game as Hibbard had 18 rushes for 245 yards and 4 touchdowns while Lorentz added 110 yards on 18 carries. That helped Prairie keep it close in the first half.
Prairie received the opening kickoff and Hibbard broke through for a 28 yard run to move the ball to the Lapwai 34. A high center snap to Schumacher resulted in a 15 yard loss though and led to a Prairie punt.
Lapwai took over at their own 30 and went 70 yards in 11 plays to score the game’s first touchdown on a 7 yard run by Yearout. Yearout added the 2-pointer for a 0-8 lead.
Prairie answered back with a drive of their own. It took 6 plays to move from the Prairie 22 to the Lapwai 45. On the next play Hibbard burst through the middle and raced 45 yards to the end zone. Schumacher ran in the 2-pointer to tie the game at 8-8.
Lapwai answered back with Yearout gaining 41 yards to convert a first down on 2^nd and 30. Yearout scored on a 26 yard run. The 2-point pass failed as Lapwai took an 8-14 lead.
Prairie came up short on fourth down on their next possession with Lapwai taking over at their own 49. The Wildcats needed just 1 play to score as Yearout connected with Mason Brown for a 51 yard pass play. They ran in the 2-pointer to make it 8-22.
Wyatt Ross was able to return the kickoff 26 yards to the Lapwai 46 but got hurt on the play. He went back in on the next defensive series but then came out for the rest of the game.
Prairie needed 6 plays to travel 46 yards with Schumacher scoring from the 1 on a sneak. Lorentz ran in the 2-pointer to cut the deficit to 6 at 16-22 with 8:22 left in the half.
Prairie finally stop Lapwai’s offense when a pass completion came up 4 yards short on 4^th down with Ross making the tackle. Prairie took over at the Lapwai 44 and took 5 plays to scored with Hibbard scoring the touchdown from 12 yards out to tie the score. Prairie’s 2-point pass attempt to take their first lead fell incomplete leaving the score at 22-22.
Lapwai needed just 2 plays to take back the lead at Yearout ran for 22 then passed to Brown for 46 and the touchdown. Yearout passed to Kross Taylor for the 2-point conversion and a 22-30 lead.
Prairie came right back to tie the scored as they covered 68 yards in 7 plays. First they had to convert and fourth and 1 at their own 41 with Hibbard picking up 8 for the first down. 3 plays later Hibbard lined up on the wing and ran a reverse to the left for 37 yards and the touchdown. Schumacher ran in the 2-point to again tie the score at 30-30 with 3:05 left in the half.
Prairie tried an onside kick but it went out of bounds at the Prairie 49. After the 5 yard penalty Lapwai started at the Prairie 44 and needed 6 plays to retake the lead. Yearout pass to Taylor for 7 yards for the go-ahead touchdown and then passed to Taylor for the 2-pointer to make it 30-38 with 43 seconds left in the half.
Lapwai then recovered an onside kick and got down to the Prairie 24 before 2 incomplete passes ended the half at that point.
However Lapwai received the second half kickoff and got a 26 yard return to set them up at their own 45. They needed just 6 plays to make it a 2-touchdown lead. The touchdown demonstrated it was Lapwai’s night as Yearout’s pass deflected off of Brown and went right to Terrell Ellenwood-Jones for the 14 yard touchdown. Yearout passed to Taylor to give Lapwai a 16-point lead at 30-46.
Prairie came up short on fourth down and turned the ball over to Lapwai at the Prairie 49.  Lapwai came up 7 yards short on fourth down with Prairie getting the ball back at their own 24.
Prairie faced a fourth and 13 from the 21 and Lorentz went back to punt. It was a fake punt play but Lorentz came up just short of a first down at the 33 with Lapwai taking over on downs.
The Wildcats made it a 3 touchdown lead 9 plays later on a 12 yard pass from Yearout to Taylor. Lapwai added the 2-pointer for a 30-54 lead with 2:23 left in the third quarter.
Prairie took over at their own 36 after the kickoff and an 18 yard return by Colton McElroy.
On the next play Hibbard took the ball 64 yards for what turned out to be Prairie’s final touchdown. The 2-point run came up short leaving Prairie still down by 3 scores at 36-54.
Prairie’s onside kick attempt was recovered by Lapwai at the Lapwai 48. They scored 4 plays later to push their lead back to 24 points.
Lorentz returned the kickoff 22 yards to the Prairie 42 but a botched handoff on the next play saw Lapwai recover the fumble at the Prairie 40.
Lapwai scored again 6 plays later and added the 2-pointer to take a 36-68 lead.
Prairie came up short on fourth down on their next possession with Lapwai taking over at their own 41. Lapwai kept the ball on the ground to take time off the clock and got down to the Prairie 17 before Levi Walsh tackled Yearout for a 4 yard loss on fourth down.
However there was less than a minute to play at that point and the clock ran out after a pair of running plays by Hibbard gained 11 yards.
Lapwai will go on to play Raft River at Pocatello this weekend while Prairie’s season comes to an end.
Prairie had 342 yards rushing on 41 attempts but just 23 yards passing. Lapwai had 353 yards rushing on 53 attempts and 256 passing.
Hibbard led Prairie defensively with 6 tackles. Schumacher, Ross and Jesse Cronan each had 3 tackles. Lorents had 2.5 tackles. Eli Hinds, Carter shears and Walsh each had 2 tackles. McElroy and Chase Kaschmitter each had 1 tackle and Shane Hanson had 0.5 tackles.
Prairie ends their season with an 8-1 record.
At the end of the game it was looking a lot like last year with 3 seniors on the sidelines unable to play as Cronan also got injured and had to come out of the game, joining Hasselstrom and Ross.
Prairie  8 22   6   0 -36
Lapwai 8 30 16 14 -68
L-Yearout 7 run (Yearout run) 3:39 1^st
P-Hibbard 45 run (Schumacher run) 1:33 1^st
L-Yearout 26 run (pass failed) 11:53 2^nd
L-Brown 51 pass from Yearout (Ellenwood-Jones run) 10:07 2^nd
P-Schumacher 1 run (Lorentz run) 8:22 2^nd
P-Hibbard 12 run (pass failed) 6:10 2^nd
L-Brown 46 pass from Yearout (Taylor pass from Yearout) 5:45 2^nd
P-Hibbard 37 run (Schumacher run) 3:05 2^nd
L-Taylor 7 pass from Yearout (Taylor pass from Yearout) 0:43 2^nd
L-Ellenwood-Jones pass from Yearout (Taylor pass from yearout) 9:22 3^rd
L-Taylor 12 pass from Yearout (Ellenwood-Jones pass from Yearout) 2:23 third
P-Hibbard 64 run (run failed) 2:06 3^rd
L-Yearout 43 run (pass failed) 11:52 4^th
L-Yearout 8 run (Yearout run) 9:12 4^th

28-vs. Glenns Ferry @ Middleton, 6:30 p.m. MDT, won 48-14

10-C.V.*, here, won 48-14
17-Logos*, here, Homecoming, won 72-24
24-Potlatch*,  there , won 64-28

  1-Kamiah*, there, won 60-20
  8-Lapwai*, here, won 58-26
15-Genesee*, there,won 84-50
22-Troy*, here, Senior Night, won 58-16
29 or 30-Higher Seed host, State-By winning the league title, Prairie will get a bye the first week of the playoffs.

5-State Quarterfinals vs. Lapwai at Cottonwood, 6 p.m., lost 36-68
*league game

*indicates league game
  1-JV vs. Grangeville, here, 7:30
  3-Grangeville, there, 7:30, Idaho County Shootout
  9-Lapwai*, here
11-Genesee*, there
13-Orofino, here
14-C.V.*, here
17-Potlatch*, here, 4:30 & 6
  4-Timberline, there
  8-Troy* Quad, there, JV-4, V-5:30
11-Kamiah*, there
14-Logos*, here
20-Lapwai*, there
22-Genesee*, here, 1 & 2:30
24-Grangeville, here
25-C.V.*, there
28-Potlatch*, there, 4:30 & 6
  1-Kamiah*, here
  4-Troy*, here, Senior Night
11-Logos*, there
14-Orofino, there
19-25-District at LCSC
26-State Play-In at Post Falls
March 3-5-State at Caldwell

All games start at 4:30 p.m.
  9-Grangeville, here
11-Kamiah, there
18-Highland, here
30-Nezperce, here
  2-C.V., there
  7-Timberline, there
  9-Orofino, here
14-St. John Bosco (7th grade only), here