Pirates win big over Lapwai
The Prairie football team rolled to a big win over Lapwai, 68-14, in their home opener Friday, Sept. 13 at Cottonwood.
The game didn’t start very well for the Pirates as they had losses on 4 of their 10 plays on the their first possession. Positive plays of 21 yards on a scramble by quarterback Levi McElroy and 13 by Matt Wemhoff on an end around helped the Pirates move to the Lapwai 26 before turning the ball over on downs.
The defense twice tackled Lapwai for loss and forced them to punt on their first possession.
Prairie took over after the short punt at their own 45. Chris Schumacher picked up 8 yards on a run to the left. McElroy then picked up 4 for a first down. Levi Gehring gained 32 yards around right end to move the ball to the 11. Schumacher picked up 3 then 2 plays went for no gain and a false start set Prairie back to the 13. On fourth down McElroy completed a screen pass to the left to Wemhoff and he was able to take the ball into the end zone for the game’s first points. The 2-point try failed leaving Prairie with a 6-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff and unintentional onside kick resulted in McElroy recovering the ball for Prairie at the Lapwai 44.
McElory gain 9 on a first down keeper. Schumacher went up the middle for 3 and a first down at the 32. Gehring then took the ball right, cut back left and wound up outracing the defense to the end zone for a touchdown. Gehring ran in the 2-pointer to give Prairie a 14-0 lead.
A facemask penalty on the 2-point try let Prairie kick off from the 45. A short kickoff went out of bounds at the Lapwai 41 letting Lapwai take over at the 46.
Gehring and Schumacher tackled the Lapwai quarterback for a 4 yard loss on first down. After an incompletion, a flare pass was stopped for a loss of 1. On Fourth and 15 from the 41, Wemhoff sacked Lapwai quarterback Jereese McCormack for a 9 yard loss giving Prairie the ball at the Lapwai 32.
A pass interference penalty gave Prairie a first down at the 18. Gehring went 10 yards around right end on the last play of the first quarter to set up second and inches. McElroy picked up 4 for a first and goal at the 4. A false start penalty set the Pirates back to the 9. Gehring gained 6 yards on a run to the left and then Schumacher went up the middle for 3 yards and a touchdown.
The ensuing Prairie kickoff went to the 20 and Lapwai returned it to the 35. The defense again forced the Wildcats to go backwards. Schumacher and Jake Quintal combined to sack the quarterback for a 4 yard loss. A fumble and recovery led to a 2 yard loss. After a false start penalty, a bad snap to the quarterback resulted in a 14 yard loss. Lapwai wound up punting from their own 10. The punt only went 19 yards as Prairie took over at the Lapwai 29.
On third and 12 from the 31, McElroy connected deep down the left side to Phil Schwartz for a 25 yard gain that set up first and goal at the 6. McElroy ran a keeper and scored on the next play. Schumacher ran in the 2-pointer to make it 30-0.
An illegal block call on the onside kick attempt gave Lapwai the ball at the Prairie 44. On first down running back Julian Barros picked up 1 yard. That was Lapwai’s first play that gained yardage in the game. Barros picked up 10 on the next play for a first down.
Lapwai got to the Prairie 24 for a fourth and 1. Gehring tackled McCormack in the backfield for a 4 yard loss to give Prairie the ball at the 28.
After an incomplete pass, Schumacher gained 7 yards total on 2 runs for fourth and 3. A false start made it fourth and 8. Prairie still went for it and McElroy was forced to scramble and wound up completing a pass to Schumacher that went for 70 yards and a touchdown. McElroy passed to Schwartz for the 2-pointer to make it 38-0.
Lapwai took over at the 50 after a 22 yard return. They had a couple of big plays to move to the Prairie 18. A false start penalty on Lapwai was followed by a 5-yard facemask penalty on Prairie on a sack. Wemhoff then sacked McCormack for a 7 yard loss to end the half.
Lapwai got the ball to start the second half and went 56 yards in 3 plays for their first touchdown. They added the 2-pointer to make it 38-8.
Prairie took over at their own 31 after a 10 yard return by Wemhoff. Two running plays netted 3 yards in losses. McElroy then threw a deep pass down the middle and connected with Wemhoff for what turned out to be a 72 yard touchdown. Gehring ran in the 2-pointer to put Prairie up 46-8.
A personal foul penalty on the 2-point try allowed Prairie to kick off from the Lapwai 45. Malachi Graham-Pile kicked to the Lapwai 6 and it was returned to the 20.
On first down Briggs Rambo tackled the Lapwai runner for a 2 yard loss. On second down Lapwai gained just 1 yard. On third down Schumacher sacked McCormack for an 11 yard loss leading to a punt from the 8.
The punt went just 22 yards with Prairie taking over at the Lapwai 30.
Prairie needed 6 plays to score again. McElroy gained 8 and Gehring went for 2 for a first down. McElroy passed to Wemhoff for 9 yards and Schumacher went for 2 for first and goal at the 9. McElroy gained 4 on a keeper to the right and then Gehring scored on a power run up the middle where he carried a couple of defenders into the end zone. McElroy passed to Gehring for the 2-pointer to make it 54-8. That invoked the running clock mercy rule for the rest of the game.
Lapwai took over at their own 42 and faced third on a11 from the 41. McCormack’s pass to the left side was intercepted by Schwartz at the 48 and he took the ball to the end zone for a touchdown. McElroy passed to Wemhoff for the 2-pointer and a 62-8 lead.
Graham-Pile’s line drive kickoff hit a Lapwai player and bounced to Gehring who recovered the ball at the Lapwai 46.
A 13 yard run by Schumacher moved the ball to the 32. An 8-yard pass to Schumacher on fourth and 3 gave Prairie a first down at the 17. After a 1 yard run by McElroy, Gehring took the ball to the left side and all the way to the end zone. The 2-point pass attempt fell incomplete as Prairie now led 68-8.
The subs went in on defense and Lapwai was able to move the ball downfield for a touchdown. They covered 56 yards in 6 plays. The 2-point try failed, making it 68-14.
Prairie took over at their own 45 after an onside kick try with Kade Quintal recovering. The second unit faced third and 15 when Kade Quintal completed a pass to Trajan Elven for 18 yards and a first down. Prairie then ran out the clock.
The Pirates gained 190 yards rushing on 41 attempts. Gehring led the way with 102 yards on 14 carries. McElroy added 47 on 13 carries and Schumacher 32 yards on 10 carries. Dylan Uhlenkott missed the game due to concussion symptoms.
McElroy completed 6 of 8 passes for 197 yards while Quintal was 1 for 1 for 18 yards. Wemhoff caught 3 passes for 94 yards. Schumacher caught 2 for 78. Schwartz caught 1 for 25 and Elven caught 1 for 18.
Defensively Rambo had 5 solo tackles. Wemhoff had 4 solo tackles, 1 assist and 3 sacks. Gehring had 4 assists, 1 sack and an onside kick recovery. Schumacher had 3 solo tackles, 3 assists and 1 sack.  Schwartz had 1 assist and and interception that he returned for a touchdown. Jake Quintal had 2 tackles and 1 assist. Kade Quintal had 2 solo tackles. Carter Shears had 1 solo tackle and 1 assist. Lane Mader and Elven each had 2 assists. Zach Schumacher had 1 solo tackle and Graham-Pile had 1 assist.
Prairie is now 2-1 on the season and 1-0 in league play. Their next game is Homecoming against Kamiah this Friday, Sept. 20.
Prairie 14 24 24 6 -68
Lapwai 0   0   8 6 -14
P-Wemhoff 13 pass from McElroy (run failed) 3:10 1^st
P-Gehring 32 run (Gehring run) 1:59 1^st
P-Schumacher 3 run (Schumacher pass from McElory) 11:06 2^nd
P-McElroy 6 run (Schumacher run) 7:33 2^nd
P-Schumacher 70 pass from McElroy (Schwartz pass from McElroy) 2:55 2^nd
L-McCormack 12 run (Noriega pass from McCormack) 11:12 3^rd
P-Wemhoff 72 pass from McElroy (Gehring run) 9:43 3rdc
P-Gehring 5 run (Gehring pass from McElroy) 5:37 3^rd
P-Schwartz 48 interception return (Wemhoff pass from McElroy) 1:55 3^rd
P-Gehring 16 run (pass failed) 7:38 4^th
L-Barros 7 run (pass failed) 3:00 4^th
All games at 7 p.m. except indicated
30-Deary, there, won 44-8
  6-vs. Valley at Fruitland, 6:30 p.m. (MST), lost 22-52
13-Lapwai*, here, won 68-14
20-Kamiah*, here, Homecoming
27-Logos*, there
  4-C.V.*, there
11-Potlatch*, here
18-Troy*, there
25-Kendrick*, here, Senior Night
1 or 2-State First Round at Higher Seed
8 or 9-State Quarterfinals
15 or 23-State Semifinals
22 or 18-State Champ., ISU or BSU
*League  Game
JV games may be added once schools know how many players they will have

  3-Deary, here, 6 p.m.
  9-Lapwai, there, 6 p.m.
16-Kendrick, there, 6 p.m.
  7-Potlatch, there, 6 p.m.

All games at 4:30 except as indicated
12-Clearwater Valley, here
19-Lapwai, there
26-Timberline, there
  3-Kamiah, here
10-Lewis County, here
17-#1 South at #1 North; #2 South at #2 North; #3 South at #3 North; #4 South at #4 North; #5 South at #5 North; #6 South at #6 North, all at 5 p.m.