Pirates lose heartbreaker to Oakley
Turnovers and a couple of special teams breakdowns led to a heartbreaking loss for the Prairie Pirates in their state semifinal game against Oakley, 40-42, at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow Friday, Nov. 13.
The opening kickoff by Oakley went for a touchback with Prairie taking over at the 20.
On third and 10 Cole Schlader ran a keeper to the left and picked up 34 yards for a first down. 2 plays later Prairie faced another third and long with Schlader passing to T.J. Hibbard for 22 yards down the left side for a first down at the Oakley 22.
Hibbard then picked up 7 yards and on the next play Brody Hasselstrom picked up a first down at the 12 but the Pirates lost their first team all-state senior lineman, Dean Johnson to an injury. Apparently his foot got planted in the turf and stayed put while his body twisted leaving him with a broken shin bone that ended his season early.
Two plays later Schlader scored on a keeper to the right from the 11. The 2-point run came up short but Prairie had taken a 6-0 lead.
On Oakley’s first possession, the Hornets were able to move from their own 25 out to midfield where their drive stalled and they were forced to punt on fourth and 12.
Dalton Ross returned the punt 16 yards to the Prairie 30. On the first play from scrimmage Schlader hooked up with Hibbard deep down the right side for a 52 yard game to the Oakley 18.
Hasselstrom picked up 6 on a run to the left and Schlader ran a sneak for 2 to set up third and 2. Hasselstrom gained 6 on a run to the left to set up first and goal at the 4.
3 running plays netted just 1 yard as Prairie faced fourth and goal at the 3. Schlader went back to pass and wound up scrambling around until spotting Dalton Ross open in the middle of the end zone for the touchdown. Again the 2-point try failed as Prairie took a 12-0 lead.
Oakley responded with their first scoring drive as they took over at their own 39 and went 61 yards in 9 plays with senior running back Isaac  Mitton scoring from the 13. Hasselstrom stopped Mitton from adding the 2-pointer as Prairie’s lead was cut to 12-6 early in the second quarter.
Prairie took over at their own 25 following the kickoff and responded with another scoring drive. On the first play Schlader connected with Hasselstrom on a long pass down the right side for 54 yards to the Oakley 21.
Two plays later Schlader connected with Jesse Cronan for a 15 yard pass that set up first and goal at the 5.
The next play saw a fumble but Hibbard recovered at the 3 for the Pirates. After a run for no gain, Schlader ran a bootleg to the right for the touchdown. Schlader then ran left for the first 2-point conversion of the game as Prairie took a 20-6 lead with 9:04 left in the half.
It didn’t take Oakley long to respond as they needed just 3 plays to cover 59 yards for another score. The touchdown came on a quick slant  from quarterback Jace Robinson to Robert Wybenga who went 49 yards for the touchdown. Schlader made the tackle that stopped the 2-point try as Prairie’s lead was cut to 20-12.
Prairie answered right back with their fourth touchdown in 4 possessions.
A penalty cost the Pirates a big gain over the middle to Hasselstrom and set them back to the 16. On third and 9 from the 21, Schlader scrambled away from the pass rush before finding Hasselstrom open for a 17 yard gain to the 38.
On the next play Hasselstrom went through a big hole on the right side and burst free for a 62 yard touchdown run. Hibbard added the 2-pointer as Prairie took a 28-12 lead with 6:14 left in the half.
Oakley came back with a drive that got down to the Prairie 12 before stalling. A sack on third and 12 by Matt Coppernoll, who was apparently unblocked as quick as he got to Robinson for a 7 yard loss.
Robinson’s fourth down pass to the end zone was deflected by Lane Schumacher as Prairie took over on downs.
Prairie picked up 4 yards on first down then 2 incomplete passes led to the first punt by the first string offense this season. A juggled snap and a punt block effort by Oakley led to Shane Hanson trying to squib a kick through the middle of the line that covered just 9 yards with Oakley taking over at the Prairie 34.
On second and 10 Robinson completed a 32 yard pass to  Corbin Bedke to set up first and goal at the 2. Two plays later Mitton scored and Wybenga ran in the 2-point to cut Prairie’s lead to 28-20 with 40 second left in the half.
Prairie had to kick off to Oakley to start the second half and Hanson’s kick checked up at the 2 yard line where Oakley had to return it and got out to just the 8.
On second down Schumacher intercepted Robinson’s pass at the 12 and returned it to the 7.
A holding penalty on a third down run pushed Prairie back to the 16 and Schlader’s pass on the next play was intercepted with Oakley taking over at the 2.
A 58 yard run by Mitton got Oakley out of their own end with Trenton Lorentz making a saving tackle at the Prairie 41. Mitton carried again on the next play and fumbled the ball after gaining 15 yards with Schumacher recovering the fumble for the Pirates at the 26.
Prairie converted a fourth and 1 from their own 35 as Hibbard picked up 3 yards. A pass from Schlader to Wyatt Ross for 7 yards on third and 7 moved the ball out to the Prairie 48.
2 plays later though Schlader threw his second interception as Wybenga picked off his pass at the Oakley 45 and returned to the 49. Two plays later Robinson connected with Dace Jones for a 43 yard touchdown pass. Robinson then passed to Austin Cranney for the 2-point conversion that tied the game at 28-28 with 4:20 left in the third quarter.
Prairie took over at their own 25 following the kickoff. Hibbard converted a third and 1 with a 4 yard burst up the middle to the Prairie 38. On the next play Hasselstrom duplicated his long touchdown run from the first half with another 62 yard scoring run through a hole on the right side. The 2-point try failed as Prairie took a 34-28 lead with 2:45 left in the third quarter.
Oakley came back with a long scoring drive as they converted a fourth down and 2 from their own 23 after calling a timeout to discuss either going for it or punting. Eventually Oakley scored on a 33 yard pass from Robinson to Jones to tie the game at 34-34. Mitton then added the 2-pointer to give Oakley their first lead of the game with 11:48 left to play.
Prairie took over at their own 25 and answered back. The Pirates converted a third and 8 from their own 27 on a 9 yard pass from Schlader to Dalton Ross. 3 plays later they faced a third and 5 at their own 41 and Schlader again connected with Dalton Ross, this time for 12 yards to the Oakley 47.
On the next play Hibbard took the ball through the middle, cut to the left and took the ball all the way to the end zone on a 47 yard run. That put Prairie ahead 40-36 with 8:39 to play. The 2-point pass fell incomplete.
Unfortunately, special teams got them on the kickoff as Jones took the kickoff at the Oakley 14 and went 86 yards up the left side to put Oakley back on top 40-42 with 8:20 left to play. Prairie stuffed the 2-point run to keep the margin at just 2 points.
Prairie took over after the kickoff at their own 24 down 2 with 8 minutes to play.
The Pirates then put together a drive unlike any they had all season as they ground out 20 plays covering 85 yards and eating up most of the clock. Along the way they had to overcome a holding penalty and a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that saw a player get ejected.
The holding penalty came on their first play after the kickoff and set them back to the 7 yard line. They faced a third and 18 from the 17 and converted on a screen pass to the left from Schlader to Hasselstrom. After that first down was achieved came the other penalty which set Prairie back to the 20 but it was still just first and 10 and not first and 25.
On second and 11 Schlader passed to Hasselstrom on the left side for a 17 yard gain to the 36.
Two plays later Schlader faced a tremendous pass rush and got hit in the back just as he released the ball. The pass wound up in the arms of lineman Chase Kaschmitter who took the pass for a 20 yard gain to the Oakley 43. Apparently the ball was tipped before it got to Kaschmitter or it would have been illegal touching as he was not an eligible receiver.
A gain by Hasselstrom of 5 yards and then 8 yards by Schlader gave Prairie a first down at the 30.
On third and 6 Schlader passed to Dalton Ross near the left sideline for a 12 yard gain and a first down at the 14.
Three straight runs by Hasselstrom netted 6 yards leaving Prairie with a fourth and 4 at the 8. Schlader kept the ball around the left side and picked up just enough yardage for a first down at the 4.
Hasselstrom gained 3 on pitch to the left. A sneak by Schlader came up just short of the goal line on second down. On third down came the deciding play. Apparently the snap count was 2 but the snap was made on 1 and Schlader wasn’t ready for the ball and it got away with Oakley recovering in the end zone for a touchback with 41 seconds left on the clock.
Oakley was able to run out the clock and claim the win.
This was the first time Prairie had lost to Oakley in the Kibbie Dome. Their other two losses to the Hornets both came at Pocatello.
For the game Prairie dominated most of the stats except for turnovers and kick returns.
The Pirates had 588 yards of offense to 417 for the Hornets.
We had the Pirates with 339 yards rushing on 59 attempts and 249 yards passing on 14 completions. Oakley had 168 yards rushing on 27 attempts and also had 249 yards passing on 12 completions.
Prairie had 3 turnovers to 2 for Oakley.
The winning touchdown for Oakley came on a kickoff return. A big kick return play has helped Oakley in each of their 3 wins against Prairie.
Hasselstrom had 174 yards rushing on 27 attempts. Schlader had 89 on 16 carries and Hibbard had 77 on 16 carries.
Schlader was 14 for 18 passing with 2 interceptions for 249 yards.
Hasselstrom caught 5 passes for 97 yards. Dalton Ross caught 4 for 36. Hibbard caught 2 for 74. Kaschmitter caught 1 for 20. Cronan caught 1 for 15 and Wyatt Ross caught 1 for 7 yards.
Mitton led Oakley’s rushing attached with 131 yards on 17 carries, most of those yards in the second half.
Robinson completed 12 of 21 passes with 1 interception for 249 yards. Bedke was 0 for 1 on a halfback pass that Prairie had well defended forcing an overthrow.
Cranney caught 4 passes for 40 yards. Wybenga caught 3 for 76 yards. Jones caught 2 for 76 yards. Bedke caught 2 for 38 yards and Mitton caught 1 for 19 yards.
Prairie had 65 yards worth of penalties compared to 20 for Oakley.
The Pirates were presented the 3^rd place trophy after the game as they finished their season with a record of 8-1.
This year’s senior class suffered only 4 losses, a season opening loss to Genesee their freshman year, a season opening loss to Valley their sophomore year and 2 to Oakley for a combined 39-4 record over 4 years with 2 state championships and 2 third place trophies.
Prairie 12 16 6  6 -40
Oakley 0 20 8 14 -42
P-Schlader 11 run (run failed) 8:31 1^st
P-D. Ross 3 pass from Schlader (pass failed) 2:5 1^st
O-Mitton 13 run (run failed) 11:39 2^nd
P-Schlader 3 run (Schlader run) 9:04 2^nd
O-Wybenga 49 pass from Robinson (run failed) 8:34 2^nd
P-Hasselstrom 62 run (Hibbard run) 6:14 2^nd
O-Mitton 2 run (Wybenga run) 0:40 2^nd
O-Jones 43 pass from Robinson (Cranney pass from Robinson) 4:20 3^rd
P-Hasselstrom 62 run (run failed) 2:45 3^rd
O-Jones 33 pass from Robinson (Mitton run) 11:48 4^th
P-Hibbard 47 run (pass failed) 8:39 4^th
O-Jones 86 kickoff return (run failed) 8:20 4^th