Pirates win big at Troy
The Prairie football team came away with a 63-8 win at Troy on Friday, Oct. 18.
The win clinches that Prairie will finish no worse than third in the White Pine League standings and would finish second if they could beat Kendrick this Friday, Oct. 25.
Prairie didn’t get off to a very good start in the game as they fumbled the opening kickoff, giving Troy the ball at the Prairie 30 yard line.
However the defense stepped up and Briggs Rambo stopped a pass receiver in the backfield for a 3 yard loss and Matt Wemhoff then sacked quarterback Payton Christenson for a 6 yard loss forcing a fourth and 18 at the 38. Dylan Uhlenkott then blitzed the quarterback forcing an incompletion on fourth down.
Prairie took over at the 38 and Uhlenkott converted a third and 8 with a 20 yard run to the right. A fumbled snap on the next play however gave Troy the ball back on their own 40.
Two sacks by Wemhoff for losses of 17 yards plus a running play that was stopped for -3 yards had Troy punting on fourth and 30. The punt traveled just 19 yards as Prairie took over at the Troy 39.
After an incomplete pass, Uhlenkott burst through the middle for 39 yards and the first of his 4 touchdowns. Prairie then had Uhlenkott attempt to kick the extra point but it was blocked leaving Prairie with a 6-0 lead.
Troy took over on their own 35 after the kickoff and again went backwards. Christenson was stopped for a 6 yard loss and then sacked by Wemhoff for a 5 yard loss forcing a punt on fourth and 21. Levi Gehring returned the punt 25 yards to the Troy 20.
Quarterback Levi McElroy was sacked for a 9 yard loss on first down but Uhlenkott then took a pitch to the left and went 29 yards for his second touchdown. This time his extra point kick was good and Prairie led 13-0.
Troy started their next possession at their own 16. After a 1 yard gain, they had a loss of 4 yards and then a fumbled snap led to a loss of 6 as Troy punted again on fourth and 19.
Prairie took over at the Troy 49. Chris Schumacher gained 6 on first down but McElroy was then sacked leading to a fourth and 10. McElroy then made his first pass completion of the game as he connected with Wemhoff on the left side. Wemhoff took the pass 49 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. This time Uhlenkott ran in the 2-pointer for a 21-0 lead.
Troy began their next possession on their own 36. This time they didn’t lose any yardage but 3 straight incomplete passes led to a punt on fourth and 10.
Prairie took over at their own 43. Schumacher picked up 6 yards and McElroy scrambled for a 1 yard gain. On third and 3, McElroy connected with Gehring for a 10 yard gain and a first down. Uhlenkott then went around left end for 25 yards to the Troy 15. McElroy then connected with Gehring in the end zone for a touchdown. The kick attempt was blocked leaving Prairie with a 27-0 lead.
Troy started on their own 45 after a short kickoff. An encroachment penalty moved the ball to the 50. After 3 incomplete passes and a 1 yard loss on a run, Prairie took over at the Troy 49 on downs.
After 2 incomplete passes downfield, McElroy completed a short pass to the left to Schumacher who took the ball 49 yards for a touchdown. Uhlenkott ran in the 2-pointer to make it 35-0.
Troy started at their own 48 after another short kickoff. A false start set them back 5 yards and after 3 incompletions, they punted.
Prairie took over at their own 35. Uhlenkott burst up the middle for 40 yards to the Troy 25. Schumacher gained 7 yards then 2 more after an incompletion. A false start turned a fourth and 1 into a fourth and 6 at the 21. McElroy ran a keeper around left end and wound up not only converting the first down but scored a touchdown. McElroy then passed to Schumacher for the 2-pointer for a 43-0 lead.
Prairie kicked deep this time and Troy took over at their own 20. A 10 yard loss on an end around and a false start penalty set them back to their own 5. After their longest offensive play so far, a 10 yard pass play, they wound up facing fourth and 14 at their own 16. They decided to go for it and cam up 10 yards short as Uhlenkott tackled the runner at the 20.
McElroy completed a pass for 11 yards to Rambo to set up first and goal at the 9. Uhlenkott then picked up his third touchdown on a run up the middle. The 2-point pass failed as Prairie now led 49-0 with 56 seconds left in the half.
The entire second half was played with a running clock that only stopped on the quarter change and timeouts.
Troy gained 15 yards on the final play of the half but they were still 45 yards short of the goal line.
Troy received the second half kickoff and took over at their own 30. A 27 yard pass play moved the ball to the Prairie 43. Troy wound up facing fourth and 11 at the 44 and Wemhoff sacked Christenson for an 8 yard loss.
Schumacher gained 5 yards and after an incomplete pass, Uhlenkott was stopped after 3 yards to set up fourth and 2 at the Troy 40. Uhlenkott then took a pitch from backup quarterback Kade Quintal and went 40 yards to the right for his fourth and final touchdown of the game. The 2-point pass fell incomplete as Prairie now led 55-0.
On Troy’s next possession they had 3 incomplete passes and then a fumble on fourth and 10 that Wemhoff recovered at the Troy 28.
Gehring picked up 15 yards on a run and after a pass interference gave Prairie a first down at the 7, Kade Quintal passes to Schumacher for a touchdown. Malachi Graham-Pile then ran in the 2-pointer to make it 63-0.
The JV defense went onto the field for the next Troy series and they picked up a first down at the Prairie 48. After losses totaling 7 yards, Troy was able to complete a pass downfield which Zach Schumacher took to the end zone. That 55 yard gain finally put the Troy offense on the plus side in yardage for the game. Christenson ran in the 2-pointer to make it 63-8.
Prairie was able to run out the clock on their next possession.
Uhlenkott wound up with 207 yards rushing on just 9 attempts as Prairie totaled 253 yards rushing on 24 attempts. Schumacher added 26 yards on 5 carries.
McElroy completed 5 of 11 passes for 134 yards and 3 touchdowns. Quintal completed 2 of 3 passes for 14 yards and a touchdown.
Schumacher caught  2 for 56 yards and 2 touchdowns. Gehring caught 2 for 25 yards and a touchdown. Wemhoff caught 1 for 49 yards and a touchdown. Rambo caught 1 for 11 yards and Trajan Elven caught 1 for 7 yards.
Troy had -62 yards rushing on 21 attempts. That includes 7 sacks of the quarterback. Christenson complete 7 of 22 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively Wemhoff had 6 sacks, a fumble recovery and 2 other tackles. Uhlenkott had 5 tackles and 2 assists. McElroy had 4 tackles. Schumacher and Rambo each had 3 tackles. Gehring had 2 tackles and 3 assists. Lane Mader had 2 tackles and 1 assist. Jake Quintal had 1 sack and 1 assist. Ashton Martin, Carter Shears and Elven each had 1 tackled. Kade Quintal had 1 assist.
Prairie is now 6-2 on the season and 5-1 in league play. They will have senior night this Friday, Oct. 25 against Kendrick. The winner will finish in second in the league and the loser will finish in third.
Prairie 13 36 6 8 -63
Troy     0    0 0 8 -  8
P-Uhlenkott 39 run (kick blocked) 6:02 1^st
P-Uhlenkott 29 run (Uhlenkott kick) 3:10 1^st
P-Wemhoff 49 pass from McElroy (Uhlenkott run) 11:44 2^nd
P-Gehring 15 pass from McElroy (kick blocked) 9:50 2^nd
P-Schumacher 49 pass from McElroy (Uhlenkott run) 7:25 2^nd
P-McElroy 21 run (Schumacher pass from McElroy) 5:19 2^nd
P-Uhlenkott 9 run (pass failed) 0:56.0 2^nd
P-Uhlenkott 40 run (pass failed) 6:05 3^rd
P-Schumacher 7 pass from K. Quintal (Graham-Pile run) 11:43 4^th
T-Schumacher 55 pass from Christenson (Christenson run) 6:10 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, won 50-38
27-Logos*, there, lost 20-62
  3-C.V.*, there , date changed due to lack of officials on Oct. 4, won 54-36
11-Potlatch*, here, won 46-32
18-Troy*, there, won 63-8
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