No passes, but Prairie Ridge beats Lakes

THE SKINNY

Shunning the forward pass all game long, Prairie Ridge built a 21-7 lead and hung on for a 21-14 Class 6A playoff win. Host Lakes scored with 3:54 left to play, but couldn’t convert on four plays from the Wolves’ 10-yard line in the final minute.

TURNING POINT

A 70-yard pass from quarterback Ethan Sage to Devyn Cedzidlo set up Lakes for the would-be tying score at the 10-yard line in the final minute. But Prairie Ridge’s defense stuffed a first-down run, a second-down pass fell incomplete, a third-down went nowhere and a fourth-down pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage.

THE STAR

Early in the second quarter, starting quarterback Brett Covalt went out with an injury and didn’t return. Enter backup Luke Annen, who played the rest of the way without a turnover, led the team to one touchdown drive and even carried the ball 10 times himself.

BY THE NUMBERS

Prairie Ridge ran the ball on all 56 of their offensive plays, gaining a total of 204 yards. The opening drive was 13 plays, 74 yards for a score by quarterback Brett Covalt and the second drive was 14 plays, 59 yards and ended with a four-yard touchdown run by Steve Ladd. Zack Greenberg had the third-quarter touchdown on a four-yard run following a Lakes fumble. Eagles quarterback Ethan Sage was 8-of-16 passing for 150 yards and one touchdown. Mike Brey rushed 11 times for 108 yards.

QUOTABLE

“You can easily get down on yourself after giving up a big play. But to regain your focus and make a couple of big plays is huge. That speaks to our leadership on defense.” — Prairie Ridge coach Chris Schremp on the game-ending goal-line stand