| Huge
fourth quarter leads to win
The Prairie football team outscored Troy 22-0 in the fourth quarter to break a tie and pull away for a 42-20 win during their Homecoming game at Cottonwood Friday, Oct. 7. 
The win leaves Prairie in sole possession of first place in the White Pine League Division 1 standings. The game didn’t start very well for the Pirates although they did stop Troy on downs on their first possession. Hunter Chaffee, Caleb McWilliams and Luke Wemhoff sacked Troy quarterback Chase Blazzard for a 7 yard loss on fourth down to give Prairie the ball at their own 45. 2 plays later though Prairie gave it right back on a fumble. It looked like Prairie would stop Troy again as an offensive pass interference penalty had Troy facing a second and 27. Blazzard though managed to keep ahead of the pass rush on the next play by rolling out to the right and connected up with Cameron Barnes, who had gotten behind the defense for a 57 yard touchdown play. Prairie stopped the 2-point try but trailed 0-6. A 30 yard kickoff return by Like Wemhoff seemed to get the Pirates going though. Spencer Schumacher picked up 25 yards on a third and 3 to set Prairie up at the Troy 23. After an 8 yard run by Schumacher, he connected up with Chaffee on a corner route with Chaffee making the catch near the pylon for a 15 yard scoring play. Prairie’s 2-point try also came up short leaving the score tied at 6-6. The defense stopped Troy at midfield as Brandon Anderson burst into the backfield to stop David Blum for no gain on a fourth down and 1 play at the Prairie 49. Prairie was forced to punt though with Schumacher’s punt going out of bounds at the Troy 15. Troy also had to punt and Anderson returned the punt 19 yards to the Troy 31. On third down and 9 at the 30, Schumacher threw a screen pass out to the left to Anderson who picked up some great blocking and added a few moves to go the distance for the go-ahead touchdown. Anderson then added the 2-pointer to make it 14-6. Troy came right back as Blazzard and Barnes hooked up on the first play after the kickoff for a 55 yard touchdown. The 2-point pass fell incomplete as Prairie held onto the lead at 14-12 with 8:08 left in the half. Prairie answered right back with a 7 play, 72 yard drive helped out by a defensive holding penalty that turned what could have been a fourth and 11 after Schumacher was sacked for a 10 yard loss, into a manageable fourth and 1. Schumacher picked up the first down with a 2 yard quarterback sneak. On the next play Schumacher through a perfect pass to Chaffee, who caught the ball despite good pass coverage for a 33 yard touchdown. After the 2-point try was stopped, Prairie led 20-12 with 5:44 left in the half. Troy put together a drive, helped by a 36 yard pass play, that stalled out at the Prairie 8. Blazzard passed to Jonah Lay on fourth and 6 but Wemhoff tackled Lay 1 yard short of a first down. Prairie received the second half kickoff but had to punt. Troy took over on their own 26 and with a pair of pass plays for 24 and 36 yards moved the ball to the Prairie 16.  A
penalty against the Pirates gave Troy a first and goal at the 4 and on
the next play Lay went around right end for the touchdown. Blazzard then
ran in the 2-pointer to tie the game at 20-20 with 7:36 left in the third
quarter.
Prairie looked to answer back as Schumacher connected with Chaffee for 37 yards to move the ball to the Troy 15. Unfortunately Prairie could only move the ball to the 10 before turning it over on downs. Troy took over and moved the ball out to midfield where they faced fourth and 6 from their 44. Chaffee intercepted the ball at the Prairie 45 and returned it to the 50. Prairie moved the ball to the 33 when the quarter ended. On the first play of the fourth quarter Schumacher found Wemhoff open to the right side on a short swing pass. Wemhoff used his blocks to break into the open field and then went all the way to the end zone to put Prairie back into the lead. Wemhoff then ran in the 2-pointer to make it 28-20. On the ensuing kickoff Chaffee squibbed the kick which bounced off a Troy player and in the mad scramble afterwards Anderson came up with the ball at the Troy 47. Four running plays set up a first down at the 23. On the next play Wemhoff took a pitch around right end, slipped a couple of tackles and wound up going 23 yards to the end zone. Schumacher ran in the 2-pointer to make it 36-20 with 10:23 left. Chaffee kicked it deep this time and Troy took over on their own 25. 3 plays later they faced a fourth and 12 from the 23. Blazzard, who also punts, faked the punt and rolled out to the right and threw the ball downfield. Anderson intercepted the pass at the 45 and returned it 20 yards to the Troy 25. Troy, looking to get the ball back, nailed Prairie for 7 yards worth of losses on the next two plays. Anderson then picked up 13 yards on a pitch to the left and then made a juggling catch of a pass from Schumacher for a 9 yard gain and a first and goal at the 10. On third and goal from the 3, Schumacher powered the ball into the end zone. The 2-pointer failed leaving Priarie with a 42-20 lead with 6:15 left to play. Neither team was able to move the ball in the final 6 minutes. Troy’s final two possessions ended with fumbles. Caleb McWilliams recovered the first at the Troy 20. Prairie came up short on fourth down at the 12 and turned the ball back to Troy. Blazzard went back to pass with just seconds left and Carson Schmidt hit him from behind, knocking the ball loose. Troy recovered at their own 1 as time ran out. Troy actually outgained the Pirates in the game 324 to 337 in total yards. Prairie had 145 yards rushing on 40 attempts with Wemhoff gaining 73 yards on 16 carries. Anderson added 39 yards on 8 carries and Schumacher had 31 yards on 14 carries. Schumacher was 9 for 14 for 179 yards with no interceptions. Three different receivers caught 3 passes each. Chaffee caught 3 for 85, Wemhoff 3 for 57 and Anderson 3 for 37. Blum led Troy with 76 yards rushing on 18 carries with Lay adding 44 yards on 12 carries. Troy had 112 yards rushing on 41 attempts. Blazzard was 9 for 20 passing for 225 yards with 2 interceptions. Barnes caught 4 passes for 148 yards. Troy-Prairie games seem to come down to turnovers and Troy had 3 to just 1 for Prairie. All 3 of Troy’s turnovers also came in the final 15 minutes with the first two leading to Pirate touchdowns. Anderson led the defense with 11½ tackles plus an interception. McWilliams added 9 tackles and a fumble recovery. Wemhoff had 8½ tackles. Schumacher had 5 tackles. Jacob Stubbers had 3. Chaffee had 2½ plus an interception. Schmidt had 2 tackles. Jace Perrin had 1½ and Dereck Arnzen and Derik Shears had 1 each. A name you usually see high in the tackle stats, Jayce Huling, missed the game due to a knee injury suffered earlier in the week during practice. Prairie is now 5-1 on the season and 4-0 in league play. Their next game will be this Saturday, Oct. 15 against Wallace. There will be a 2 quarter JV game starting at 1 p.m. followed by the varsity game. Troy 6 6 8 0 -20 Prairie 6 14 0 22 -42 T-Barnes 57 pass from Blazzard (run failed) 5:14 1st P-Chaffee 15 pass from Schumacher (run failed) 3:30 1st P-Anderson 30 pass from Schumacher (Anderson run) 8:22 2nd T-Barnes 55 pass from Blazzard (pass failed) 8:08 2nd P-Chaffee 33 pass from Schumacher (run failed) 5:44 2nd T-Lay 4 run (Blazzard run) 7:36 3rd P-Wemhoff 33 pass from Schumacher (Wemhoff run) 11:52 4th P-Wemhoff 23 run (Schumacher run) 10:23 4th P-Schumacher 3 run (pass failed) 6:15 4th
Spencer Schumacher pitches the ball out to Brandon Anderson, not pictured, just as a Troy defender moves in. PIRATES BOYS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2016 9-Salmon River, there, 6 p.m., lost 26-30. 16-Council, there, 6 p.m., won 42-0 23-C.V.*, here, won 66-26 30-Kamiah*, there, won 66-20 15-Wallace JV, here, 1 p.m. (1/2 game) 15-Wallace*, 15 minutes after JV game 17-JV vs. Potlatch, here, 6 p.m. 21-Potlatch*, there 28-JV vs. Lapwai, 5th Quarter, here, 6 p.m. 28-Lapwai, here 11 or 12-State Semifinals 18 or 19-State Championship *League Game PIRATES JR. HIGH FOOTBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2016 20-Kamiah, there 27-Timberline, there, 5 p.m. |
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