Pirates shut out Genesee
The Prairie football team dominated the Genesee Bulldogs for a 48-0 Homecoming victory Friday, Sept. 22 at Cottonwood.
The Pirate defense completely shut down Genesee’s offense as the Bulldogs managed just 3 first down in the entire game and wound up with a net -59 yards of offense. They crossed the 50 yard line just once and never got past the Prairie 45 yard line.
Prairie kicked off to start the game and Genesee picked up one of their 3 first downs on the first play from scrimmage. After that a 5 yard loss on a running play and a loss of 13 when Bennie Elven sacked Genesee quarterback Jackson Banks. Genesee then tried a fake punt but picked up just 3 yards giving Prairie the ball at the Genesee 30.
Prairie needed just 1 play to score as quarterback Noah Behler passed deep over the middle to Elven for a touchdown. Behler then passed to Levi Gehring for the 2-point conversion to give Prairie an 8-0 lead.
Genesee’s second possession lasted just 2 plays. After a 3 yard loss on a run, the center snap sailed over Banks’ head and Ethan VonBargen recovered the ball at the Genesee 16.
Prairie again needed just 1 play to score as Behler found Blake Bunce open at the pylon for a 16 yard touchdown. Behler ran in the 2-pointer for a 16-0 Prairie lead.
Genesee got a good kickoff return and started at their 37. 3 plays netted -2 yards. Prairie then gave them 10 yards on consecutive penalties setting up fourth and 2 at the 45. Another bad snap cost the Bulldogs 17 yards and even though Banks recovered, Prairie took over on downs at the Genesee 28.
Prairie went to the run this time with Chris Schumacher carrying 3 straight times for 6, 8 and 5 yards to the Genesee 9. Behler then ran a keeper around the right end for a touchdown. Behler completed a shovel pass to Schumacher for the 2-point conversion to put the Pirates up 24-0 with 6:21 still left in the first quarter.
For Genesee it was 3 plays and punt on their next possession as they faced fourth and 15 at their own 18. The punt traveled 25 yards to the 41 where Gehring returned it 4 yards to the Genesee 37.
Prairie needed 3 plays to score this time. Behler passed to VonBargen for 7 yards then Schumacher ran up the middle for 6 for a first down at the 24. On the next play Schumacher caught a short pass on the left side and took the ball to the end zone, breaking a couple of tackle attempts along the way. Behler ran in the 2-pointer to make it 32-0 with 1:45 left in the first quarter.
Genesee picked up their second first down of the game on their next possession but then Banks was tackled for a 6 yard loss by Elven and a fumbled handoff wound up costing Genesee another 8 yards. After an incomplete pass Genesee punted again. The punt traveled 36 yards to the Prairie 30 with Gehring making a 14 yard return to the Prairie 44.
Prairie need 9 plays to score this time with Schumacher running twice for 10 and 13 yards as Prairie moved the ball to the 11. A fumble led to a 5 yard loss. After a 3 yard pass completion from Behler to Elven, Prairie lost another 6 yards on another fumble. Facing fourth and 18 at the 19 yard line, Behler passed to Elven in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Behler passed to Gehring for the 2-pointer to give Prairie a 40-0 lead with 5:54 left in the half.
Genesee was forced to punt again but the punt traveled just 13 yards before going out of bounds. Prairie took over at the Genesee 48. 3 plays later a fumble was recovered by Genesee at their own 38.
The Bulldogs converted a fourth and 12 when Banks ran the ball for 15 yards to the Prairie 45. That was the only time the Bulldogs crossed midfield. A bad snap cost them 6 yards back to their own 49 and the half ended on a run that was stopped at the Prairie 45.
The entire second half was played with a full running clock that stopped only when a timeout was called.
Prairie received the second half kickoff with Gehring returning the ball 12 yards to the Prairie 37.
This was the Gehring possession as he carried the ball 3 times for a net 4 yards then caught a pass for 25 yards to convert a fourth and 6. He ran for 11 yards and then 7 yards to the Genesee 16. Behler ran 6 yards to set up first and goal at the 10 but Prairie fumbled the ball away on the next play with Genesee recovering at the 18.
Genesee was forced to punt again on a fourth and 21 from their own 7 with the punt traveling just 15 yards as Prairie took over at the 22.
Gehring ran for 8 and then 5 yards to set up first and goal at the 9. He picked up 2 yards then Behler ran a keeper for 7 yards and what turned out to be the game’s final touchdown. Behler passed to Gehring for the 2-pointer to make it 48-0 with the quarter running out on the conversion attempt.
Prairie kicked off to start the fourth quarter with Genesee taking over on their own 30.
They picked up 1 yard on a run and then had 3 straight incompletions to turn the ball over on downs at the 41.
Prairie sent the JV offense out and although Payton Stamper picked up 12 yards on a pair of runs, penalties led to Prairie turning the ball over on downs at the 44. The big penalty was a holding penalty that wiped out a 20 yard gain by Stamper.
Another bad snap cost Genesee 16 yards and then Lane Mader and Jake Quintal combined on a sack of Banks for an 8 yard loss. A pair of incomplete passes turned the ball back to Prairie at the 20.
Levi McElroy then took a knee to run out the clock.
Prairie had 126 yards rushing on 26 attempts led by Schumacher who had 46 yards on 8 carries. Behler had 36 on 5 carries and Gehring had 32 yards on 11 carries.
Behler completed 8 of 10 passes for 128 yards with Elven catching 4 for 56. Gehring caught 1 for 25, Schumacher 1 for 24, Bunce 1 for 16 and VonBargen 1 for 7.
Genesee had -91 yards rushing on 23 attempts. 16 for their 23 attempts went for negative yardage.
Banks completed 3 of 23 pass attempts for 32 yards. Cameron Holmes caught 2 for 21 and Noah Bollman caught 1 for 11 yards.
Prairie is now 3-1 on the season and 2-1 in league play. Their next game is at Kamiah this Friday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m.
Prairie     32 8 8 0 -48
Genesee    0 0 0 0 -0
P-Elven 30 pass from Behler (Gehring pass from Behler) 9:50 1^st
P-Bunce 16 pass from Behler (Behler run) 8:51 1^st
P-Behler 9 run (Schumacher pass from Behler) 6:21 1^st
P-Schumacher 24 pass from Behler (Behler run) 1:43 1^st
P-Elven 19 pass from Behler (Gehring pass from Behler) 5:54 2^nd
P-Behler 7 run (Gehring pass from Behler) 0:35 3^rd