Pirates win big over Lapwai
In a battle of the last two teams with unbeaten records in White Pine League play, the Prairie football showed they weren’t ready to be dethroned as the rolled to a 58-26 win over Lapwai Friday, Oct. 8 at Cottonwood.
The Prairie defense forced 5 turnovers and took advantage of Lapwai’s no-punt philosophy to take the ball over on downs deep in Wildcat territory 3 other times.
The game didn’t start well for the Pirates as they were forced to punt on their first possession with Lapwai taking over at their 20. The Wildcats needed just 1 play to score as quarterback Titus Yearout passed deep downfield to a wide open Mason Brown for the score. The 2-point pass failed but Prairie trailed 0-6 less than 2 minutes into the game.
Prairie answered on their next possession. They took over on their own 15 after the kickoff. Brody Hasselstrom broke loose for 23 yards on first down. Prairie then faced a fourth and 2 at their 47 with Hasselstrom picking up 8 to convert the first down. A 14 yard gain on third down by Hasselstrom moved the ball to the Lapwai 26. On the next play Tayden Hibbard went over the right side and broke free for a 26 yard scoring play. Prairie couldn’t convert the 2-pointer leaving the score tied at 6-6.
Lapwai took over at their 42 after the kickoff. Yearout slipped on the wet turf on third down for a 9 yard loss leading to a fourth and 17 from their own 35. Lapwai went for it and Hibbard chased down Yearout for a sack and a 20 yard loss giving Prairie the ball at the Lapwai 15.
An illegal motion penalty set the Pirates back to the 20. Hasselstrom gained 6 on the next play then Hibbard went around right end for 14 yards for his second touchdown of the game. The 2-point run came up short but Prairie now had a 12-6 lead.
Lapwai’s next possession saw their first turnover as Wyatt Ross intercepted a second down pass at the Lapwai 45 and returned the ball to the 29.
Hasselstrom gained 3 on first down then quarterback Lane Schumacher passed to Colton McElroy over the middle for 26 yards and the touchdown. Again the 2-point try failed but Prairie now led 18-6.
Kicker Shane Hanson boomed the next kickoff into the end zone for a touchback. Lapwai faced fourth and 5 from their own 25 and again, no punt, with Yearout’s fourth down pass sailing high as Prairie took over on downs at the Lapwai 25.
The Pirates needed just 1 play to score as Hasselstrom ran a sweep to the right and got a great block from Hibbard to spring him for a 25 yard scoring run. Hasselstrom took a direct snap on the 2-point try and ran the ball in to make it 26-6 with 26 seconds left in the first quarter.
Lapwai got into Prairie territory on their next possession before another turnover gave the Pirates the ball back. On second and 7 at the Prairie 45, Yearout had the snap go through his hands and Hasselstrom scooped up the ball at the Lapwai 40 and returned it to the 35.
A false start penalty led to the Pirates facing a fourth and 14 at the 39. Schumacher lofted a pass down to Hasselstrom who caught the ball at the 13 and took it into the end zone for a 39 yard scoring play. The 2-point pass attempt failed leaving Prairie with a 32-6 lead.
Lapwai looked like they were going to get on the scoreboard again after a 50 yard run by Yearout and a 29 yard pass completion to Brown set them up with first and goal at the 1. On the next play Yearout was in shotgun formation and the Lapwai center made a bad snap. Chase Kaschmitter was able to beat Yearout to the ball, recovering for the Pirates at the 25.
On the next play Hibbard burst through the middle and went 75 yards for another Prairie touchdown. The 2-point run again came up short but Prairie now led 38-6. Basically a 12-point turnaround in the space of 2 plays.
Hanson kicked off into the end zone for the third time in the game as Lapwai again took over at their 20. They were able to moved the ball into Pirate territory at the 45. Yearout was sacked for a 5 yard loss and 2 plays later his fourth down pass attempt fell incomplete as Prairie took over at the 50.
On third and 14 from the Prairie 46, Hasselstrom converted the first down with a 24 yard run to the left, breaking a couple of tackles on the play.
Prairie had a first down at the 20 and Trenton Lorentz looked like he was going to score or at least set up a first and goal as he covered 17 yards before the ball got knocked loose and Lapwai recovered at the 3 yard line.
Lapwai faced a fourth and 3 at their own 10 and, you guessed it, went for it, with Yearout’s pass coming up short as Prairie took over on downs.
Lapwai jumped offside on the next play, moving the ball to the 5. Hasselstrom went over the right side for the touchdown on the next play. Schumacher passed to Hibbard for the 2-point conversion to make it 48-6 with 2:05 left in the half.
Lapwai was then able to score again as Brown received the kickoff at the 19 and raced 81 yards to the end zone for a touchdown. The 2-point pass failed, making the score 48-12.
Lapwai kicked off and Hibbard returned the ball 18 yards to the Prairie 43. On third and 11, Schumacher passed deep over the middle to Ross, who was running a post pattern, for a 58 yard scoring play. The 2-point run came up short but Prairie now led 52-12 with 1:05 left in the half.
Lapwai got a 35 yard pass play to move down to the 25 but Lorentz sacked Yearout for a 12 yard loss as time ran out in the half.
The 40-point Prairie lead meant the entire second half would be played with a running clock.
In the first half their were occasional light sprinkles of rain. The second half saw that turn into a steady rain shower that kept up through the end of the game.
Lapwai received the second half kickoff and started at their own 35. They got out to the 49 before Yearout gave up his second interception with Ross making the catch at the Prairie 25. He returned the ball to the 50.
For only the second time in the game, Prairie was unable to move the ball and turned it over on downs at their 45 as Schumacher’s fourth and 15 pass to Hasselstrom fell incomplete.
Lapwai moved the ball down to the Prairie 16 before Yearout fumbled with McElroy making the recovery at the Prairie 20.
3 runs gained 12 yards and a first down at the 32. Schumacher then completed a short slant pass to Ross who took it 28 yards to the Lapwai 40. Hasselstrom went 12 yards with a pitch around right end on the next play.
Hibbard gained 4 yards then Hasselstrom picked up 4 more with a personal foul penalty against Lapwai moving the ball to the 10 for a first and goal.
Hasselstrom took a pitch to the right and went into the end zone on the next play. With the 2-point try failing, Prairie now led 58-12 with 8:50 left in the game.
A 48 yard pass completion by Lapwai helped set them up for their third touchdown of the game as they scored with 4:07 left to make it 58-18.
Prairie ran the ball 4 straight times with the wet turf stopping the Pirates from picking up a first down that would have allowed them to run out the clock. Lapwai took over at the Prairie 25 and scored 4 plays later with 1.6 seconds left on the clock. They converted their only 2-point try in four attempts to make the final score 58-26.
The Pirates wound up outgaining the Wildcats 441 to 329.
The Pirates had 297 yards rushing on 40 attempts. Hasselstrom gained 155 on 18 carries with 3 rushing touchdowns. Hibbard had 136 yards on 10 carries with 3 touchdowns.
Schumacher completed 5 of 10 passes for 150 yards and 3 touchdowns. Ross caught 2 for 86 yards and a touchdown. Hasselstrom caught 2 for 40 yards and a touchdown. McElroy caught 1 for 26 yards and a touchdown.
Lapwai had just 63 yards rushing on 31 attempts. 12 of those 31 attempts went for losses. Yearout completed 12 of 25 passes with 2 interceptions for 266 yards.
Schumacher led in tackles with 5 while Hibbard had 4 tackles including a sack. Hasselstrom had 4 tackles and a fumble recovery. Lorentz had 3 tackles including 2 sacks. Ross had 3 tackles and 2 interceptions. Jesse Cronan had 3 tackles. Hanson had 2 tackles. Carter Shears and Ben Elven each had 1 tackle. Kaschmitter and McElroy each had a fumble recovery.
Prairie is now 6-0 on the season and 5-0 in league play. This was their 30^th straight White Pine League win. 3 of those wins were by forfeit. Their last league loss was the season opener against Genesee in 2017, a loss they avenged in the state championship game that year.
Lapwai    6   6 0 14 -26
Prairie   26 26 0   6 -58
L-Brown 80 pass from Yearout (pass failed) 10:05 1^st
P-Hibbard 26 run (pass failed) 6:28 1^st
P-Hibbard 14 run (run failed) 4:14 1^st
P-McElroy 26 pass from Schumacher (run failed) 2:15 1^st
P-Hasselstrom 25 run (Hasselstrom run) 0:25.8 1^st
P-Hasselstrom 39 pass from Schumacher (pass failed) 9:52 2^nd
P-Hibbard 75 run (run failed) 8:40 2^nd
P-Hasselstrom 5 run (Hibbard pass from Schumacher) 2:05 1^st
L-Brown 81 kickoff return (pass failed) 1:53 1^st
P-Ross 58 pass from Schumacher (run failed) 1:05 1^st
P-Hasselstrom 10 run (run failed) 8:50 4^th
L-Henry 3 run (pass failed) 4:07 4^th
L-Wynott 8 run (Wynott run) 0:01.6 4^th

28-vs. Glenns Ferry @ Middleton, 6:30 p.m. MDT, won 48-14

10-C.V.*, here, won 48-14
17-Logos*, here, Homecoming, won 72-24
24-Potlatch*,  there , won 64-28

  1-Kamiah*, there, won 60-20
  8-Lapwai*, here, won 58-26
15-Genesee*, there, start time moved to 7:30 p.m. due to issues with lack of officials
22-Troy*, here, Senior Night
29 or 30-Higher Seed host, State

5 or 6-State Quarterfinals
12 or 13-State Semifinals
19 or 20-State Champ., UI or BSU
*league game

31-C.V., here, 6 p.m., cancelled

  7-Troy, here, 6 p.m.
13-Pomeroy, here, 5 p.m.
20-Logos, there, 6 p.m.
27-Potlatch, here, 5 p.m.

  4-Kamiah, here, 6 p.m.
11-Potlatch, there, 5 p.m.
18-Pomeroy, there, 5 p.m.

  9-C.V., there, postponed to Tuesday, Sept. 14
14-C.V., there
16-Lapwai, there
23-Timberline, there
30-Orofino, here

  7-Lewis County, here
11-Lapwai, here
14-Kamiah, here