| Pirates
lose at Deary
The Prairie football team finished their most successful season in 18 years with a flourish as they blasted the Timberline Spartans 52-6 Friday, Oct. 27 at Cottonwood. 
The Pirates and Spartans both came into the game with identical 4-3 records in league play but Timberline was the only one with any state hopes but only if they won and Deary beat Genesee. Prairie dashed any hopes the Spartans had early on as they scored the first 3 times they had the ball. Prairie tried an onside kick on the opening kickoff and Branden Waller recovered it for Prairie after it bounced off a Timberline player, at the Timberline 49 yard line. Danny Riener gained 11 yards up the middle on the first play and on the next play Kyle Holthaus found David Sigler wide open at about the Timberline 15 yard line and Sigler was able to run untouched into the end zone for a 38 yard scoring play. Riener added the 2-pointer for an 8-0 Prairie lead less than 30 seconds into the game. Prairie tried another onside kick but Timberline recovered at the 50. The Spartans were able to pick up a couple of first downs but the Prairie defense stopped them at the 20 and took over on downs. On the next play Ryan Daly burst through the middle and went 64 yards before being pushed out of bounds at the Timberline 16. After a penalty for early movement, Riener went over the right side and went 21 yards for the score to up the lead to 14-0. After a deep kickoff, Timberline took over at their 38. After two running plays gained nothing, Riener and Daniel Sigler combined to sack Timberline’s quarterback for a 9 yard loss to force a punt. Prairie took over at the Timberline 49 and Riener gained 32 yards on the first play. After a couple of plays netted just 1 yard, Riener went up the middle for 16 yards and a touchdown to make it 20-0. The defense again forced a 3 and out from Timberline but turned the ball back to the Spartans on a muffed punt.  Timberline
was unable to gain any yardage though and was forced to punt again. They
tried a fake punt but Waller made the tackle 5 yards short of a first down.
Prairie picked up a first down but then fumbled the ball away with Timberline taking over at the Prairie 49. Given another gift, the Spartans made the most of it as this time they cover the 49 yards in 4 plays to cut the lead to 20-6 with 1:35 left in the first quarter. Prairie came right back though with another scoring drive. Timberline tried an onside kick but Jake Holthaus covered it at the Prairie 48. Six plays later Riener scored his third touchdown of the game on a 6 yard run to the right for a 26-6 lead. Prairie almost recovered another onside kick but a Timberline player wound up batting the ball out of bounds at the Timberline 42. Timberline didn’t keep the ball very long though as they tried a long pass on the next play but David Sigler was the only one close to the ball and intercepted at the Prairie 35 yard line. Prairie then put together another scoring drive as they overcame two 10 yard penalties along the way. On a second and 20 play, Riener ran on a delayed handoff, broke a tackle in the backfield and wound up gaining 36 yards for a first down at the Timberline 25. Three plays later Riener swept around right end for 15 yards and his fourth touchdown of the game. Michael Matson then came in to try and kick for the extra point. His first try missed but Timberline was called for roughing the kicker giving him a second try. This time it went through to make the score 33-6. Timberline came back with a drive as they picked up a couple of first downs but the drive stalled at the 35. Riener sacked the quarterback on fourth down for a 10 yard loss to give Prairie the ball at their 45. A 34 yard run by Riener put Prairie at the 21. 
A fourth and 3 run by Riener gained 8 yards and gave the Pirates a first and goal at the 6. Unfortunately the ball was knocked loose on the next play and Timberline recovered at the 5. Timberline gained a first down but a sack by Ryan Daly for a 10 yard loss led to a fourth and 21 from the 10. Timberline went for it and Riener and Waller combined on the tackle to limit the play to just 4 yards and give Prairie the ball back at the Timberline 14. Successive offside penalties on the Spartans put Prairie at the 5. Two plays later Riener picked up the first down at the 3. On third down from the 1, Riener swept around right end for his fifth touchdown as time expired in the first half. Timberline was called for unsportsmanlike conduct and there was a player ejected after the play. Matson again kicked the extra point to make it 40-6 at the half. Prairie took the opening kickoff of the second half and took just 4 plays to cover 58 yards. The big plays were a 17 yard run by Riener and a 41 yard pass play from Nate Kaschmitter to David Sigler for the touchdown. The kick attempt was blocked leaving Prairie with a 46-6 lead. 15 yards in penalties stopped any chance Timberline had of putting a drive together as Prairie took over on downs at the Timberline 22. After two running plays netted 7 yards, Prairie called a timeout to take all the seniors out of the game to an ovation from the crowd. On the next play Waller went over the left side for 15 yards and a touchdown that ended the game on the 45-point mercy rule with 7:28 left in the third quarter. Riener wound up with 252 yards rushing on 22 carries, his biggest rushing total of the season. That gives him 1440 yards for the season on 178 attempts for just over 8 yards per carry. Ryan Daly added 73 yards on 6 carries as Prairie piled up 348 yards rushing on 34 attempts. Holthaus completed 4 of 9 pass attempts for 52 yards and a touchdown while Kaschmitter was 1 for 2 for 41 yards and a touchdown. Sigler had all 5 pass receptions for a total of 93 yards. The Pirates held Timberline to just 92 yards rushing and 20 passing. Waller led the defense with 9½ tackles and a fumble recovery. Riener had 6 tackles and 1½ sacks. David Sigler had 4½ tackles and an interception. Ryan Daly had 4 tackles and 1½ sacks. Kyle Daly had 4 tackles. Kaschmitter had 3½ tackles. Corey Schaeffer had 3 tackles and ½ sack. Daniel Sigler had a sack and Tyler Forsmann, Jake Holthaus and Cody Miller each had a ½ tackle. With the win Prairie ends the season with a 6-3 overall record and 5-3 White Pine League record that leaves them all alone in 4th place. It’s their first winning season since 1988 when they finished 9-2 and lost in the first round of the state playoffs to eventual champion Firth. Their only other loss that season was to Grangeville. Timberline 6 0 0 - 6 Prairie 20 20 12 -52 P-Sigler 38 pass from Holthaus (Riener run) (11:31 1st) P-Riener 21 run (pass failed) (8:20 1st) P-Riener 16 run (run failed) (5:18 1st) T-Poppe 10 run (pass failed) (1:35 1st) P-Riener 6 run (run failed) (11:55 2nd) P-Riener 15 run (Matson kick) (7:41 2nd) P-Riener 1 run (Matson kick) (0:00 2nd) P-Sigler 41 pass from Kaschmitter (kick blocked) (10:43 3rd) P-Waller 15 run (no try-game over) (7:28 3rd) 8 earn medals Cottonwood Wrestling Club brought home 8 medals from the Grangeville tournament on Saturday Oct 28. Gold- Garrett Schmidt Silver- Kellie Heitman, Tayler Heitman, Kade Perrin, and Nick Creutzberg Bronze- Cole Creutzberg, Alex Hartnett and Alex Duman
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