| Pirates
are state champions!
In a defensive battle the Prairie Pirates held off the Lost Rivers Pirates 26-6 to win their fourth state championship Friday, Nov. 22 at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow. Both teams take pride in their defense and the Prairie defense was 1 big play away from pitching a shutout. Meanwhile Lost Rivers held the explosive Prairie offense in check, holding them to their lowest point total of the season although it was also the most points Lost Rivers had allowed in a game. 
Prairie received the opening kickoff and Owen Anderson converted a third and 5 with a 21 yard gain over the left side. On the next play though Cole Martin got the ball knocked loose with Lost Rivers recovering the fumble at the Lost Rivers 44. Lost Rivers converted a first down but a holding penalty led to a punt with Prairie taking over at their own 24. A loss of 2 on first down pushed them back to the 22. On the next play Martin took the ball to the right and the Prairie blockers enabled him to get around the end and he took off down the sidelines for a 78 yard scoring play. The 2-point pass was dropped leaving Prairie with a 6-0 lead at the 8:17 mark of the first quarter. Shane Hanson’s kickoff went for a touchback as Lost Rivers started from their own 20. A bad snap led to a 4 yard loss and a false start penalty had Lost Rivers punting from the 12. Anderson returned the punt 8 yards to the Lost Rivers 46. On third down and 9, quarterback Cole Schlader rolled out to the right and found Derik Shears open down the right sideline for a 34 yard gain to the 11. An encroachment penalty moved the ball down to the 5 for a second and 4 play. Martin picked up 3 to the 2. On a fourth and inches play, Schlader was able to push through the line just far enough to set up first and goal inside the 1. On second down Martin pushed just across the goal line before getting the ball knocked loose to give Prairie a 12-0 lead. The 2-point pass fell incomplete. Lost Rivers was forced to punt again with Prairie taking over at their own 45. Martin picked up 7 yards and another encroachment penalty gave Prairie a first down at the Lost Rivers 43. Brody Hasselstrom took a short pass and wound up going the distance thanks to great downfield blocking. Unfortunately a holding penalty in the Prairie backfield cancelled the touchdown and set the Pirates back to their own 42. After 2 incomplete passes set up a third and 24, Prairie went to a trick play. Anderson took the ball to the right and handed off to Shears on a reverse. Shears pulled up near the left sideline and passed downfield to Martin but the pass was just long and Prairie wound up having to punt. Lost Rivers took over at their own 25. On third down and 4 at the 31, Lost Rivers’ linemen opened up a huge hole on the left side and Brady McAfee burst through and raced 69 yards to the end zone. The 2-point run was stopped short as Lost Rivers cut the Prairie lead in half, making it 12-6 with 8:21 left in the first half. Lost Rivers tried an onside kick but T.J. Hibbard recovered the ball at the Prairie 47. After a loss on first down, Schlader connected with Shears for a 24 yard gain to the Lost Rivers 33. Hasselstrom picked up 7 yards and Schlader gained 2 to set up third and 1. Hasselstrom then spun out of a tackled and gained 4 to pick up a first down. A 7 yard scramble by Schlader set up another third and short with Schlader picking up 3 on a sneak for a first and goal at the 8. On third and goal from the 4, Martin appeared to score but a chop block penalty set Prairie back to the 19. After a pass was stopped for no gain, Prairie faced fourth and goal from the 19. Schlader went back to pass and found Sam Mager, who had set up wide left, on a crossing pattern to the right and Mager was able to get to the end zone. Martin added the 2-pointer for a 20-6 lead with 3:23 left in the half. Lost Rivers looked to answered as they completed a couple of passes for 35 total yards to get to the Prairie 34. Quarterback Bridger Hansen passed to Sage Cummins for a 17 yard gained but the ball got knocked loose and Mager recovered for Prairie at the 17. Prairie then let the half run out.  Lost
Rivers received the second half kickoff and took over at their 35 after
the kick went out of bounds. Prairie forced them to punt and Shears made
a daring catch of the bouncing ball and returned it 26 yards to the Prairie
44.
On first down disaster nearly struck but Shears was able to recover a fumble for a 5 yard loss. Anderson picked up 3 on a run then Schlader connected with Shears over the middle for 13 yards and a first down. 2 plays later Schlader again connected with Shears, this time for 24 yards to the 23. Martin picked up 4 over the left side. Another encroachment penalty set up 2nd and 1. Martin picked up 9 yards through the middle for a first and goal at the 5. Martin was hit in the backfield for a 4 yard loss but on the next play he took the ball again to the left, then cut back to the right and broke several tackles on his way to the end zone for his third touchdown of the game. The 2-point run came up short but Prairie now led 26-6 with 6:21 left in the third quarter. Lost Rivers came right back and with a 38 yard gain on a reverse plus a pass interference penalty against Prairie, moved to the Prairie 13 yard line. 3 running plays gained 5 yards setting up fourth and 5 from the 8. Lost Rivers tried a halfback pass but Keyan Cummins pass to Sage Cummins in the end zone was broken up by Schlader as Prairie took over on downs. A 12 yard run by Schlader got Prairie out to the 20 but a sack on third down forced Prairie to punt. Anderson’s punt traveled to midfield where the Lost Rivers return man misjudged the ball and had it doink off his helmet. Mager recovered the muff at the Lost Rivers 47. Prairie got a first down at the 37 and then got another first down on a pass interference penalty. The drive stalled at the 25 though as Lost Rivers took over on downs. A pass interference penalty against Prairie gave Lost Rivers a first down out to the 40 but 2 plays later Martin intercepted a Hansen pass at the Prairie 36. Prairie picked up a first down on an unsportsmanlike penalty after Schlader was called down on a 7 yard gain where Lost Rivers thought he had fumbled. Lost Rivers wound up getting the ball back anyway at their 42 as Schlader’s fourth down pass fell incomplete. Hayden Uhlenkott sacked Hansen for an 8 yard loss but Hansen then converted a fourth down with a 16 yard pass to Sage Cummins. Lost Rivers ran out of chances on the next play through as Schlader intercepted Hansen’s deep pass at the Prairie 20 and returned it to the 34. Martin gained 7 and Anderson 4 for a first down at the 45. The second unit offense then went into the game and Hasselstrom picked up 17 yards for another first down. Prairie was then able to run out the clock on a couple of kneel-downs. The championship is Prairie’s third in the past 6 years and fourth in the last 12. It was the third time Prairie finished as undefeated state champions. The 2020 senior class finished their careers with a cumulative record of 38-6 with 2 state championships and 1 third place finish, while advancing to state all 4 years. They also had 3 league championships The Pirates wound up with 210 yards rushing on 51 attempts. Martin had 116 yards on 20 carries with 3 touchdowns. Schlader had 37 on 9 carries with Anderson adding 35 on 12 carries and Hasselstrom 31 on 6 carries. Schlader was 7 for 14 passing for 114 yards while Shears was 0 for 1 passing. Shears caught 4 passes for 95 yards. Mager caught 1 pass for 19 yards and a touchdown. Anderson caught 2 passes for 0 yards. Lost Rivers had 151 yards rushing on 30 attempts led by McAfee who had 77 yards on 9 carries and Hansen who had 70 yards on 8 carries. Hansen was 8 for 17 passing with 2 interceptions for 91 yards. Keyan Cummins caught 2 for 41, Sage Cummins 2 for 33, McAfee 2 for 9 yards and Sereck Peterson 1 for 8. Anderson led the defense with 7 tackles. Uhlenkott had 6.5 tackles with 2 sacks. Shears had 5.5 tackles. Mager had 3.5 tackles with 2 fumble recoveries. Martin had 3 tackles and 1 interception. Dean Johnson also had 3 tackles. John Gehring and Dalton Ross each had 1.5 tackles. Reid Uptmor, Jesse Cronan and T.J. Hibbard each had 1 tackles. Shane Hanson had ½ a tackle and Cole Schlader had an interception. Prairie 12 8 6 0 -26 Lost Rivers 0 6 0 0 - 0 P-Martin 78 run (pass failed) 8:17 1st P-Martin 1 run (pass failed) 2:54 1st LR-McAfee 69 run (run failed) 8:21 2nd P-Mager 19 pass from Schlader (Martin run) 3:23 2nd P-Martin 9 run (run failed) 6:21 3rd
Brody Hasselstrom picked up 17 yards on this run for a first down that enabled Prairie to run out the clock to end the game. Also shown is Colton McElroy.
PIRATES BOYS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2019 13-Troy*, there, won 78-24 20-Kendrick, here, Homecoming, won 62-18 27-Genesee*, there, won 88-6 11-Lapwai*, here, won 77-14 18-Kamiah*, there, won 71-16 25-C.V.*, here, won 70-12 15-State Semifinals at Kibbie Dome, vs. Oakley, 7 p.m., won 50-22 22-State Championship at Kibbie Dome vs. Lost Rivers, 7 p.m., won 26-6, State Champions!! *League Game PIRATES BOYS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2019-20 *indicates league game 6-Grangeville, here, Idaho County Shootout, V only, 7:30 p.m. 7-St. Maries, there, 4 p.m. 10-C.V., here* 12-Salmon River, there, V only 7:30 MST 14-Troy Quad, here, JV-4, V-5:30 17-Kamiah, here* 20-Genesee, there* 7-Grangeville, there 10-Salmon River, here, V only, 6:30 11-Troy Quad, there*, JV-1, V-2:30 14-Lapwai, here* 17-Potlatch, here* 18-Orofino, there, JV-1, V-2:30 23-Genesee, here* 28-C.V., there* 31-Potlatch, there* 7-Kamiah, there* 11-Lapwai, there* 19-25-District at LCSC 27-State Play-In at Post Falls 29-State Play-In at Fruitland March 5-7-State at Caldwell PIRATES JR. HIGH BOYS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2019-20 14-Grangeville, there 19-Grangeville, here 21-Kamiah, here 5-Orofino, there 9-Grangeville, there 10-Kamiah, here 17-Kamiah, there |
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