Prairie travels to Kelso for pivotal league game

Prairie has played four consecutive close games, winning two and losing two. This week, the Falcons have a key Class 3A Greater St. Helens League matchup at Kelso Friday.

Falcons in the thick of the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League playoff race

Prairie Falcons (2-4, 1-1 3A GSHL)

Week 1: Heritage 28, Prairie 14 Week 2: Hockinson 42, Prairie 6 Week 3: Black Hills 25, Prairie 22 Week 4: Prairie 21, Battle Ground 20 Week 5: Prairie 28, Evergreen 23 Week 6: Hudson’s Bay 16, Prairie 13 Next: at Kelso, 7 p.m. Friday The Falcons, coming off a big league win in Week 5, failed to carry over that momentum and lost a defensive battle to the Eagles.

Top Gun again:

Long-time readers know I call this a Top Gun move. Hit the brakes, and let the defender fly right by you. Jake Bobst scored Prairie’s first touchdown on a 29-yard interception return. It appeared he was going to be stopped about a yard short. Instead, he hit the brakes, and the defender slid right past him, then Bobst took one more step to get into the end zone.

Not going down:

Aaron Brumley had a very physical run for a long gain for the Falcons. Early in the play, he got hit low and was this close to having his knee touch the ground. Instead, he powered through, used his hand to regain his balance, then got up to top speed again. As he was heading out of bounds, he collided with another defender. Brumley would end up going out of bounds, but no Eagle managed to actually tackle him on this play.

Fun stat fact:

Not sure if this was by design, but the Falcons ran kind of an option play, with the “option” happening beyond the line of scrimmage. This one sure did not look like a traditional option play, but it worked out the same. Back in the old days of football, the option play happened more often. Most of the time, a quarterback would opt to keep the ball or pitch the ball behind or at the line of scrimmage. Those are easy to chart for statistics However, if the quarterback goes beyond the line of scrimmage and then pitches it to a running back (or a wide receiver), things get a bit tricky. Here is what happened: Prairie started at the 50-yard line. Quarterback Jayson Maddux ran to the 46-yard line, then pitched the ball to (I believe) Izaiah Ward, who caught the ball at the 47-yard line and then ran to the 36-yard line. Both will share the yardage but only one gets credit for a carry. In this case, Maddux would get one carry for three yards. He ran for four, but pitched it back a yard to Ward. Ward then gets 11 yards rushing for advancing the ball from the 47 to to 36, but Ward does not get credit for a carry. In all, one carry for 14 yards between the two players. Now here’s the funny thing regarding this play. If Ward never gets a carry the rest of the game, officially he would have zero carries for 11 yards rushing.

Coach Speak:

What did assistant coach Mike Peck think about Week 6? “We had a bad week of practice, and it showed Friday night. We must control what we can control and get better each day. Credit to Hudson’s Bay. They played a great game.” MVP on defense: Jake Bobst for his pick-six in the first half. Thoughts on Week 7 vs. Kelso: “Get a chance to face a very good Kelso team,’’ Peck said. “It’s important we have a great week of practice and do everything we can Monday through Thursday to prepare for Friday night. We are excited to get back out there and compete again.”