MARYSVILLE — This game, as crazy as it was with an even crazier ending, isn’t the only one the Prairie Falcons will hold onto in the memory bank. Especially in a season filled with forever moments and imprints to last a lifetime.
Friday’s Class 3A first-round state football playoff game was simply another one in a long list of moments, and although it ended in a 37-30 overtime loss to an undefeated Marysville-Pilchuck team, head coach Mike Peck made sure to let his team know that there’s more to this 2019 season than their second loss of the season.
“The season you guys had,” he told players postgame, “is incredible.”
The loss ends a Prairie season that includes its first league title since 1992 and tied a program record with nine wins at 9-2 overall. The defeat came at the hands of an unbeaten Tomahawks team that’s now 11-0 and faces Lincoln of Tacoma in the 3A state quarterfinals.
But the Falcons were 25 seconds from earning their first state playoff win since 1989 and a trip to the state quarterfinals only to see M-P get a clock-expiring field goal to end regulation and score on its opening possession of overtime.
For much of Friday’s game, Prairie trailed while both teams played through a thick blanket of fog that sat on Qual Ceda Stadium. Players said that made an impact, including junior Dustin Shelby.
The junior led the Falcons in tackles, 114 yards on 16 carries, and a crucial 64-yard touchdown reception that gave Prairie its first lead of the game at 22-21 just seconds into the fourth quarter.
“That was a big thing for us,” Shelby said. “That helped kick-start us into our next level of play.”
In fact, Shelby said the fog was so thick, he didn’t see AJ Dixson’s pass over the middle until he put his hands on it.
“I couldn’t see the ball until it was about a foot from my face,” he said.
That wasn’t the only big score. Prairie saved its best for its final drive capped by Ian Davis’ 21-yard touchdown reception. That gave Prairie a 30-27 lead with 25 seconds to play on a 70-yard drive that took 4:50 off the clock.
Key plays included Treyce Teague’s 15-yard run on a third-and-8, and Dixson’s first-down run on fourth-and-6. The next play came Davis’ 21-yard score, fighting for the end zone with two Tomahawk defenders.
Teague also had a forced fumble and recovery while Davis also had two blocked punts. One resulted in a third-quarter safety that cut M-P’s lead to 14-8.
That 70-yard drive, though, in a crucial possession, said Davis, was special and more like Prairie football.
“It was crazy,” he said. “… Getting that final spark and being able to get hyped up and play our game. We were playing their game and trying to play catch up for the majority of the game.”
As it turned out, the lead was short lived. After a celebration penalty on Prairie, M-P recovered Prairie’s squibbed kickoff at the Prairie 36 with 20 seconds to play.
That led to Edgar Martinez — no, not the baseball Hall of Famer, but a 5-foot-10, 145-pound senior kicker — drilling a 39-yard field goal as time expired to send the game into overtime.
Using high school overtime rules by starting a possession at the 25-yard line, M-P capitalized first with Dylan Carson’s 2-yard score.
For Prairie, it ran two run plays and a pass breakup on an end zone target for Nickolas Lawhead set up fourth-and-5 from the 20.
Dixson, scrambling and using his speed, got to the edge on the play, but was 2 yards short of a first down.
Whistles blew, and the first person to help Dixson up and embrace him was Peck, the second-year head coach.
“(I) will remember that game for the rest of my life,” Peck said.
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MARYSVILLE-PILCHUCK 37, PRAIRIE 30
Prairie 0 6 8 16 0 – -30
MP 7 7 7 9 7 — 37
First quarter
MP — Dillon Kuk 22 run (Edgar Martinez kick)
Second quarter
P — Devante Clayton 7 run (pass failed)
MP — Jordan Justice 70 run (Martinez kick)
Third quarter
P — Safety (Ian Davis blocked punt out of the end zone)
MP — Justice 7 run (Martinez kick)
P — Nickolas Lawhead 15 pass from AJ Dixson (pass failed)
Fourth quarter
P — Dustin Shelby 64 pass from Dixson (Dixson run)
MP — Jake Elwood 3 run (kick failed)
P — Ian Davis 21 pass from Dixson (Treyce Teague pass from Dixson)
MP — Martinez 39 FG
Overtime
MP — Dylan Carson 2 run (Martinez kick)
