Pirates win big at Troy
The Prairie football team opened their season with a big win at Troy as they defeated the Trojans 54-16 Friday, Sept. 1.
It didn’t take the Pirates long to get on the scoreboard. The opening kickoff went into the end zone for a touchback with the Pirates taking over at their own 20. On the first play from scrimmage tight end Bennie Elven broke free deep over the middle. Quarterback Trenton Lorentz’ pass was underthrown but Elven was able to adjust and make the catch at about midfield. He got a key block from Levi Gehring as he went the final 50 yards for a touchdown just 16 seconds into the game. Lorentz ran in the 2-pointer to make it 8-0.
Troy was forced to punt on their first possession and Lorentz returned the punt 37 yards to the Troy 26. The Pirates ran the ball 4 straight times with Dylan Uhlenkott scoring on a sweep to the right from the 9 yard line. Lorentz passed to Gehring for the 2-pointer to give Prairie a 16-0 lead.
Troy was able to move the ball on their next possession as they completed a couple of passes for a total of 42 yards and picked up another first down on an 11 yard run to move to the Prairie 14 yard line. Troy quarterback Makhi Durrett then tried to pass over the middle for a touchdown but Lorentz leaped up to make the interception in the end zone and then carried the ball out to the Prairie 43 yard line.
On the next play, Uhlenkott burst through the middle and into the clear for a 57 yard touchdown run. Lorentz then passed to Uhlenkott for the 2-point conversion to make it 24-0 Prairie with 4:12 left in the first quarter.
On Troy’s next possession they took over at their own 35 after the kickoff return and picked up a first down at the 47 on a 12 yard run. They faced fourth and 3 at the Prairie 46 but Jake Quintal and Lorentz teamed up to stop Durrett 2 yards short of a first down at the Prairie 45.
After 3 plays netted just 4 yards Prairie faced a fourth and 6 at their own 49. In a repeat of the game’s first play, this time it was Gehring who got wide open over the middle and caught Lorentz’ pass at about the 20 and took it into the end zone on a 51 yard scoring pass on the first play of the second quarter. The 2-point pass attempt fell incomplete but Prairie now led 30-0.
Troy finally got on the scoreboard on their next possession as Durrett mixed pass completions with quarterback keepers to move the ball down to the Prairie 16. He then completed a pass to Connor Wilson for their first touchdown. Durrett then passed to Cole Hazeltine for the 2-pointer to cut Prairie’s lead to 30-8.
Prairie answered right back as Lorentz returned a deep kickoff 43 yards to the 50. Uhlenkott gained 23 yards around on a run to the left and on the next play Lorentz conned with Elven on a pass to the left that Elven cut back to the right and went 27 yards to the end zone for his second touchdown. The 2-point play failed but Prairie now led 36-8 with 6:53 left in the half.
Troy came back with a 12 play 65 yard scoring drive where they over came a 15 yard penalty. Durrett scored from the 2 yard line and then passed to Hazeltine for the 2-pointer to cut Prairie’s lead to 36-16 with 17 seconds left in the half.
Troy received the second half kickoff and if they had scored would have put them back into the game down just 2 scores. A sack of Durrett by Elven and Carter Shears forced Troy to punt on fourth and 14 from their own 36. Prairie took over on their own 32.
Lorentz passed to Blake Bunce for 18 yards on the first play to move the ball to the 50. Uhlenkott then took the ball to the left and burst through the defense for 50 yards and his third touchdown of the game. The 2-point try failed leaving Prairie with a 42-16 lead.
Another sack of Durrett forced another punt by the Trojans. This time it was Quintal and Elven who took the quarterback down for a 6 yard loss.
Prairie took over at their own 46. The drive started well with Lorentz passing to Elven for a 26 yard gain. However this was the only time in the game outside of the end of each half that Prairie had the ball and failed to score as Lorentz was intercepted by Troy’s Wade Moser at the Troy 24. He returned the ball to the Troy 45.
Troy faced a fourth and 13 at the 42 after Quintal and Shears had caught Durrett in the backfield for a 5 yard loss. Chris Schumacher then intercepted Durrett’s fourth down pass at the Troy 45 and returned it to the 42.
Lorentz ran a quarterback keeper for 25 yards to the Troy 14 but then had to leave the game due to leg cramps. Uhlenkott took a pitch from backup quarterback Levi McElroy for 12 yards to set up first and goal at the 2. McElroy then took the ball the final 2 yards on a quarterback sneak. The 2-point pass fell incomplete as Prairie took a 48-16 lead.
Troy was able to move ball into Prairie territory and faced a fourth and 4 at the Prairie 33. Gehring batted away the fourth down pass as Prairie took over at that point.
Lorentz was able to go back into the game and after a 3 yard loss on a run, Lorentz complete a pass for 8 yards to Bunce. An offside penalty then gave Prairie a first down at the Prairie 43. Lorentz then passed downfield to Gehring who made a great catch against good coverage by Troy and was then able to turn and race to the end zone for a 57 yard scoring play with 4:41 left. The 2-point pass failed as Prairie now led 54-16.
Troy was able to move the ball down to the Prairie 22 before turning the ball over on downs.
Uhlenkott then took the ball to the left and made a serpentine run down the field probably covering over 80 yards to gain 64 to the Troy 14. At that point Prairie took a knee and ran out the clock.
Uhlenkott wound up gaining 248 yards on 11 carries with 3 touchdowns. Prairie had 268 yards rushing on 17 carries.
Lorentz completed 8 of 12 passes with 1 interception for 264 yards and 4 touchdowns. Elven caught 4 for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns. Gehring caught 2 for 108 yards, both for touchdowns. Bunce caught 2 for 26 yards.
Troy gained 125 yards rushing on 35 attempts led by Durrett who had 85 yards on 17 carries.
Durrett completed 14 of 28 passes for 205 yards with 2 interceptions. Braddock Buchanen caught 5 passes for 51 yards.
Prairie is now 1-0 both overall and in league play. Their next game is this Friday, Sept. 8, at Potlatch at 7 p.m. Their first home game will be Thursday, Sept. 14 against Timberline.
Prairie 24 12 12 6 -54
Troy     0 16   0 0 -16
P-Elven 80 pass from Lorentz (Lorentz run) 11:44 1^st
P-Uhlenkott 9 run (Gehring pass from Lorentz) 7:33 1^st
P-Uhlenkott 57 run (Uhlenkott pass from Lorentz) 4:12 1^st
P-Gehring 51 pass from Lorentz (pass failed) 11:49 2^nd
T-Wilson 16 pass from Durrett (Hazeltine pass from Durrett) 7:21 2^nd
P-Elven 27 pass from Lorentz (pass failed) 6:53 2^nd
T-Durrett 2 run (Hazeltine pass from Durrett) 0:16.8 2^nd
P-Uhlenkott 50 run (pass failed) 7:46 3^rd
P-McElroy 2 run (pass failed) 0:46.4 3^rd
P-Gehring 57 pass from Lorentz (pass failed) 4:41 4^th