Pirates hold off Lapwai
The Prairie football team played a wild, high scoring game against Lapwai Friday, Oct. 6 at Cottonwood and came away with a 54-44 win.
Dylan Uhlenkott had a huge night with 349 yards rushing on 26 attempts with 3 touchdowns.
Prairie received the opening kickoff with Uhlenkott returning the deep kick 22 yards to the Prairie 27.
Noah Behler pass to Levi Gehring for 20 yards on Prairie’s first play. Gehring then picked up 30 yards on a run to the left to move the ball to the Lapwai 23.
On third and 4 from the 17, Uhlenkott carried the ball down near the goal line where Lapwai knocked it loose. Jake Quintal wound up recovering the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. Behler then ran in the 2-pointer to make it 8-0.
Lapwai needed just 1 play after the kickoff to tie the score. Quarterback Jareese McCormack tossed a short pass to the right to Ahlius Yearout who went 60 yards for a touchdown. McCormack then passed to Farrell Hayes for the 2-pointer to tie the score at 8-8.
Prairie answered right back. Uhlenkott returned the kick 23 yards to the Prairie 35. He then too the ball over the left side for a 33 yard gain to the Lapwai 32. Uhlenkott then picked up 9 and Behler 4 to set up a first down at the 19. A penalty against Lapwai moved the ball to the 14. Uhlenkott picked up 5 but was just short of a first down. He then picked up another 5 yards to set up first and goal at the 4. Behler scored on the next play to put Prairie back on top. Behler then passed to Uhlenkott for the 2-pointer to make it 16-8.
Prairie then recovered an onside kick with Bennie Elven recovering at the Lapwai 46.
Prairie wound up facing a fourth and 11 at the 47 but Behler passed to Gehring for 24 yards for the first down. Uhlenkott gained 9 to the 14 then Behler picked up 3 for a first down at the 11. Uhlenkott gained 5 to the 6 and then Gehring 4 to the 2. On third and 1, Behler ran a quarterback sneak and not only picked up the first down, but a touchdown. Behler passed to Gehring for the 2-pointer to give Prairie a 24-8 lead.
Prairie tried another onside kick but Lapwai recovered at their own 43. Yearout was not on the field for this possession as he suffered an injury to his arm while making a tackled on defense. Lapwai was unable to move the ball and Quintal and Matt Wemhoff sacked McCormack on fourth down giving Prairie the ball at the Lapwai 48.
Two 8-yard runs by Behler gave Prairie a first down at the 32. A holding penalty then wiped out a run by Uhlenkott and Behler wound up getting sacked on fourth and long as Lapwai took over at their own 42.
Lapwai needed just 1 play to score as McCormack passed to Hayes for 58 yards and a touchdown. The 2-point pass fell incomplete as Prairie still led 24-14 early in the second quarter.
The ensuing kickoff rolled to the within a foot of the goal line and Uhlenkott had to pick it up but only got back to the 5.
Prairie wound up fumbling the ball away on third down with Lapwai recovering at the Prairie 17.
On second and 8, Gehring intercepted McCormack’s pass at the 2 and returned it to the 4.
On the next play Uhlenkott burst around right end and went 60 yards before Yearout tackled him at the Lapwai 36.
Chris Schumacher went in to spell Uhlenkott for a play and gained 7 yards. Gehring picked up 9 for a first down at the 20. Uhelnkott then went left for 20 yards and a touchdown as Prairie covered 96 yards on just 4 plays. Behler ran in the 2-pointer to make it 32-14.
Another onside kick attempt was recovered by Lapwai at their 47. The Wildcats needed just 1 play to score as Yearout went 53 yards on a run to the right. Lapwai added the 2-pointer to pull back within 10 at 32-22.
Prairie turned the ball over on downs at their own 39 on their next possession. Lapwai needed 5 plays to score with McCormack again passing to Hayes for the touchdown. Lapwai added the 2-pointer to cut the lead to 32-30 with 37 seconds left in the half.
Uhlenkott returned the ensuing kickoff 24 yards to the Prairie 34. On the next play he went to the right and broke free for a 66 yard touchdown. Behler passed to Gehring for the 2-pointer to put Prairie back on top by 10 at 40-30.
Uhlenkott’s kickoff went out of bounds and Lapwai made him rekick. His onside kick attempt then went awry and Lapwai recovered at the Prairie 46. McCormack again tried to pass to Hayes but Blake Bunce intercepted at the 20 and returned the ball 7 yards to the 27.
The half ran out 2 plays later.
Prairie kicked off to Lapwai to start the second half. Although the kickoff went out of bounds, a Lapwai player had touchedit and they took over at their own 24.
Lapwai needed just 1 play to score again as McCormack passed to Yearout for a 76 yard touchdown. Yearout scored the 2-pointer on a pass reception to again cut the lead to 2 at 40-38.
Prairie took over at their own 28 after the kickoff but fumbled the ball away 2 plays later with Lapwai taking over at the Prairie 22.
Lapwai converted a fourth down for a first and goal at the 8 but then started going backwards. Uhlenkott tackled Yearout for a 4 yard loss. Wemhoff then sacked McCormack for an 8 yard loss. Yearout picked up 2 yards before Wemhoff tackled him setting up fourth and goal at the 18.
Wemhoff rushed McCormack who was forced to hurry his throw and Schumacher intercepted at the 7.
Prairie was able to move the ball out to the 34 before another fumble gave Lapwai the ball back at the 30. Two plays later McCormack fumbled the ball as he was sacked and Elven recovered at the 31.
Uhlenkott picked up 5 yards then broke loose for a 55 yard gain but had the ball knocked loose at the end of it with Lapwai recovering at their own 9.
Lapwai picked up 67 yards on 2 plays before facing a third and 10 from the Prairie 24. Uhlenkott intercepted McCormack’s pass at the 4.
Elven then recovered a fumbled snap for a loss of 2. Behler ran a quarterback sneak that picked up 16 yards to the 18.
A holding penalty set Prairie back to the 9. On third and 18 from the 10, Gehring ran a slant and go to the right side. He had a Lapwai defender chasing him down the field and he was trying to keep track of where he was at. When the Lapwai player made his move to tackle Gehring, Gehring juked and got away for a 90 yard scoring play. The 2-point run was stopped short leaving Prairie with a 46-38 lead.
Ethan VonBargen recovered Uhlenkott’s onside kick at the 50. However Prairie fumbled the ball away to Lapwai 2 plays later with Lapwai taking over at their own 43.
A holding penalty cost Lapwai a first down run by Yearout and a bad snap on fourth down and 1 gave Prairie the ball back on their own 48.
Behler picked up 6 on third and 1 for a first down. Uhlenkott then picked up 10 but was just shy of the stick. Behler picked up 3 for another first down. A 6 yard run by Behler moved the ball to the 18. Uhlenkott then took the ball over the right side for 18 yards and the touchdown. Behler passed to Uhlenkott for the 2-pointer to give Prairie a 54-38 lead with 1:15.3 left to play.
Lapwai took over at the Prairie 41 after a 29 yard kickoff return. They picked up a first down to the Prairie 19. Wemhoff sacked McCormack for a 5 yard loss on third down but McCormack was able to pass to Yearout for a touchdown on the next play. The Pirates then made a big play on defense as they stopped Lapwai’s 2-point run short of the goal line leaving the Wildcats 10 points behind and still needing 2 scores with just 34 seconds to play.
Lapwai recovered an onside kick at the Prairie 49.
Elven tackled Yearout after just a 2 yard gain on a first down pass play. After 2 incomplete passes, Wemhoff and Carter Shears combined to sack McCormack for a 10 yard loss as the clock ran out.
Prairie wound up with 475 yards rushing on 56 attempts. In addition to Uhlenkott’s hug night, Behler added 85 yards on 22 carries and Gehring added 38 yards on 7 carries.
Behler completed 6 of 8 passes for 145 yards. Gehriong caught 5 for 141 yards while Bunce caught 1 for 4 yards.
Lapwai had just 41 yards rushing despite Yearout having a 53 yard run. McCormack was sacked 4 times for 29 yards in losses.
McCormack completed 14 of 24 passes with 4 interceptions for 369 yards. Yearout caught 6 for 190 yards. Hayes caught 5 for 163 yards.
Prairie is now 4-2 on the season and 3-2 in league play. Their next game is senior night against Clearwater Valley this Friday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m.
Prairie 24 16 0 14 -54
Lapwai 8 22 8   6 -44
P-Quintal fumble recovery in end zone (Behler run) 10:17 1^st
L-Yearout 60 pass from McCormack (Hayes pass from McCormack) 10-:04 1^st
P-Behler 4 run (Uhlenkott pass from Behler) 7:31 1^st
P-Behler 2 run (Gehring pass from Behler) 2:59 1^st
L-Hayes 58 pass from McCormack (pass failed) 9:25 2^nd
P-Uhlenkott 20 run (Behler run) 5:30 2^nd
L-Yearout 53 run (J. Whitefoot pass from Q. Kipp) 5:18 2^nd
L-Hayes 26 pass from McCormack (Yearout pass from J. Whitefoot) 0:36.9 2^nd
P-Uhlenkott 66 run (Gehring pass from Behler) 0:20.3 2^nd
L-Yearout 76 pass from McCormack (Yearout pass from McCormack) 11:45 3^rd
P-Gehring 90 pass from Behler (run failed) 9:17 4^th
P-Uhlenkott 18 run (Uhlenkott pass from Behler) 1:15.3 4^th
L-Yearout 23 pass from McCormack (run failed) 0:34.1 4^th