Late touchdown lifts Prairie past Washougal, 21-16

WASHOUGAL – For Prairie football, the payoff for countless hours of offseason work arrived Friday.

Deven Vigue threw a 48-yard touchdown to Tommie Vick for the go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter of a 21-16 victory over Washougal.

Why do players grind through hundreds of practice reps when nobody else is watching? Because that can mean the difference between a joyous celebration on the Fishback Stadium turf or a quiet bus ride home.

Vigue launched a deep pass toward Vick, who had gotten behind Washougal’s defense down the middle of the field. The speedy junior secured the ball and ran untouched to the end zone.

Just like practice.

“We ran that play one hundred times in the offseason,” Vigue said. “I knew what was going to happen. I knew where he was going to be. That’s just an easy play for us.”

The winning touchdown with 4:04 to play was a credit to football IQ and trust.

“We knew, Cover 2 we’ve got to find that hole and it’s an easy touchdown every time,” Vick said. “He trusted me. He threw that thing deep and I ran my heart out.”

The offseason work was part of a larger mission to turn around the Prairie program under first-year coach Junior Miller. After a season-opening 48-7 loss to Ridgefield last week, the Falcons might have wondered if the same woes that led to last year’s 2-7 record might reappear.

Friday’s win showed this might be a new era indeed.

“Last week was a fluke,” Miller said. “We preached it all week; 48-7, that’s not us.”

Miller noticed a different tone in practice leading up to Friday’s game.

“When we were going through our drills, there was no goofing off,” he said. “Everybody was locked in.”

Drills can make the difference on game day. The techniques practiced during Prairie’s Turnover Tuesdays led to a crucial strip fumble. It came one play after Washougal, leading 16-15, forced a turnover on downs and had a chance to put the game away with a few more first downs.

Vigue and Vick took their decisive shot on the very next play. It was Prairie’s only pass completion that went for more than 20 yards.

“We had kept it short all game,” Miller said. “A lot of short passes, screen passes and the run game. We know we’ve got some guys with speed. We wanted to showcase that.”

Vick had 114 all-purpose yards on just four touches. He opened Prairie’s scoring with a 26-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

Vick also returned a blocked 31-yard field goal attempt into Washougal territory. That set up Jackson Kimball’s 18-yard touchdown catch that gave Prairie a 15-2 lead late in the first half.

Washougal came out with renewed intensity on the first drive of the second half. It was just six plays before Mercy Johnson broke loose for a 22-yard touchdown.

After a Harrison DeShazer sack forced a Prairie punt, Washougal mounted another long drive capped by Elijah Franco’s 1-yard touchdown run. Franco then carried in the two-point conversion to put Washougal ahead 16-15 with 7:48 to play.

After allowing 165 yards in the first half, the Panthers also reverted to the type of defense that powered an 8-6 win over Mountain View in their season-opener. Before Prairie’s go-ahead score, the Falcons were held to 43 yards of offense in the second half.

But despite momentum going against them, the Falcons showed a resolve and toughness Miller hopes becomes a hallmark of his program.

“My biggest thing tonight is that they didn’t give up,” Miller said. “Any team could have shut down.”

Friday was just one game. But it’s the type of showing that, if repeated enough, can alter the direction of a program.

“That’s just Prairie football,” Vigue said. “Coming back from 2-7 last year, we’re turning the program around step by step.”

PRAIRIE 21, WASHOUGAL 16

Prairie 7 8 0 6–21

Washougal 2 0 6 8–16

First quarter

W – Safety, ballcarrier down in end zone

P – Tommie Vick 26 run (Preston Hill kick)

Second quarter

P – Jackson Kimball 18 pass from Deven Vigue (Isaac Watson run)

Third quarter

W – Mercy Johnson 22 run (run failed)

Fourth quarter

W – Elijah Franco 1 run (Franco run)

P – Vick 48 pass from Vigue (run failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING – Prairie: Preston Hill 12-60, Deven Vigue 9-33, Tommie Vick 2-34, Taylor Gause 8-32, Team 3-(minus-15). Washougal: Mercy Johnson 17-130, Ben Kellar 1-11, Elijah Franco 4-17, Kaden Fautt 2-(minus-3), Team 1-(minus-4).

PASSING – Prairie: Deven Vigue 8-15-0-105. Washougal: Kaden Fautt 18-36-0-228.

RECEIVING – Prairie: Alex Blakeslee 3-15, Jackson Kimball 1-18, Riley Burke 2-16, Tommie Vick 2-56. Washougal: Brandon Austenfeld 4-65, Logan Lynch 4-44, Mercy Johnson 2-16, Royce Jones 6-62, Travis Lundberg 1-32, Elijah Franco 1-9.