Prairie beats Bay 23-21, keeps postseason hopes alive

BATTLE GROUND – It didn’t matter that Prairie was on its backup quarterback.

It didn’t matter that the Falcons were coming off four straight losses, including a 61-0 rout by Mountain View last week.

And it didn’t matter that Prairie trailed in the fourth quarter Friday, when a loss would have essentially ended the Falcons’ postseason hopes.

Prairie cast all that aside, beating Hudson’s Bay 23-21 at District Stadium. Backup quarterback Zackery Brown threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Nolan Mickenham for the winning score with 2:20 to play.

Judging by the jubilation in their postgame huddle, Prairie will be talking about Friday’s win for a while.

The 3A Greater St. Helens League might be affected by it for a few weeks as well. Prairie (3-4, 1-2), Hudson’s Bay and Evergreen are now tied for last of the league’s three postseason berths.

When Hudson’s Bay (2-5, 1-2) took a 21-17 lead with 4:00 to play on Carter Morse’s 1-yard QB keeper, the Eagles were in position to move into third place alone.

Now Prairie, which will play winless Fort Vancouver and Evergreen, controls its postseason destiny with two games remaining in the regular season.

However it turns out, after Friday nobody can doubt Prairie’s ability to dust itself off if knocked down.

“These kids understand that it’s a process,” first-year coach Mike Peck said. “As long as we stay committed to that process and control what we can control, good things will happen. I can’t speak enough about how positive they stayed and how coachable they stayed. There were a lot of times when it could have gone ugly for us, but the kids responded.”

Prairie led 14-7 at halftime, thanks to Mickenham’s big first half, when he had 98 of his 150 receiving yards, including a 46-yard touchdown.

But starting quarterback AJ Dixson injured his Achilles tendon on the final drive of the first half. Though he tried to work through the injury at halftime, he spent the second half with his foot wrapped in ice.

Enter Brown, a junior who saw his first significant varsity action on Friday.

But it was a rough first drive. Bay’s Joshua McDonald returned an interception to Prairie’s eight yard line.

One play later, Trent Palen’s end-around run tied the game at 14.

Brown wasn’t rattled, though.

“The guys have a lot of fight,” he said. “The O-line, they’re our heart and soul. They keep pushing. They don’t stop. No matter what the adversity is, I know I’ll always have that time.”

Prairie opened the fourth quarter by recovering a fumble near midfield. The Falcons eventually converted that into a 27-yard field goal by Taylor Lawhead, taking a 17-14 lead with 7:21 to play.

Hudson’s Bay didn’t need long to respond. On the first play of its next drive, Toa Kaumatule ran 51 yards up the middle to bring the Eagles to Prairie’s 15.

After converting a fourth down and recovering what could have been a disastrous fumble, Hudson’s Bay eventually scored on Morse’s keeper.

Trailing 20-17; less than three minutes to play; postseason hopes on the line. Prairie went to its playmakers.

Facing fourth and 7 at Prairie’s 49, Brown connected with Lawhead for a 23-yard gain.

The next play, Brown looked for Mickenham.

“I’m not going to lie, I was pretty nervous,” Brown said. “Dropping back with the game on the line, it’s every kid’s dream. I just had to trust him there and coach with the play call.”

It was a hitch-and-go. Bay’s defender bit on Mickenham’s first move, allowing the speedy receiver to run past for a wide-open catch.

After Prairie’s defense held firm on Bay’s last-gasp drive, the victory was in hand.

It wasn’t just one win the Falcons gained. It was the belief that no matter how rocky the season’s road gets, they can steer back on course.

“It was an amazing week of practice,” Mickenham said. “We handled adversity, fixed our mistakes and played as hard as we could.”

PRAIRIE 23, HUDSON’S BAY 21

Hudson’s Bay          7          0          7          7—21

Prairie           0          14       0          9—23

First quarter

HB – Toa Kaumatule 8 run (Alfonso Barajas kick)

Second quarter

P – Nolan Mickenham 46 pass from AJ Dixson (Taylor Lawhead kick)

P – Dixson 7 run (Lawhead kick)

Third quarter

HB – Trent Palen 8 run (Barajas kick)

Fourth quarter

P – Lawhead 27 FG

P – Mickenham 28 pass from Zackery Brown (kick blocked)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Hudson’s Bay: Toa Kaumatule 13-123, Derek Barnes 5-26, Carter Morse 14-44, Treyce Teague 1-0, Trent Palen 2-11. Prairie: Devante Clayton 9-13, AJ Dixson 7-30, Bret McGuire 7-15, Nolan Mickenham 2-26, Taylor Lawhead 1-(minus-5), Zackery Brown 3-(minus-5).

PASSING – Hudson’s Bay: Carter Morse 5-20-0-75. Prairie: AJ Dixson 9-19-0-135, Zackery Brown 11-21-1-146, Taylor Lawhead 1-1-0-11.

RECEIVING – Hudson’s Bay: Treyce Teague 3-75, Trent Palen 2-0. Prairie: Taylor Lawhead 4-53, Nolan Mickenham 8-150, Bret McGuire 3-33, Ian Davis 2-13, Jake Clark 2-13, Zeke Dixson 1-17.