Wolves untested in opening round of playoffs

By Staff, 11/12/21 9:41 PM

PRESCOTT – Lakeside showed it had no business in the playoffs Friday night as the Beavers were manhandled by the Curley Wolves 56-14 at Cummings Stadium.

Lakeside’s season ends, while Prescott moves on to round two and will face the winner of the Bismarck-Hackett game.

While the Beavers fielded a larger team physically, Lakeside simply couldn’t match up against Prescott’s superior speed. The Wolves put 21 on the board in the opening period, though it could have easily been 28 or more had Prescott not fumbled on its second drive at the Beaver eight with the visitors recovering the ball at the 10. Lakeside simply had no idea how to slow, much less, stop, Prescott’s high powered offense.

For the eighth time this season the Wolves put 50 or more points on the board, being held under 50 only twice, against Hope and Glen Rose, when the Wolves scored 49 points.

Prescott won the toss and took the opening kick. Lakeside attempted an onside kick, but the kicker’s foot barely caught the top of the ball. Lakeside fell on it at the Beaver 42. The Wolves needed four plays to put points on the board. First blood was drawn when Carston Poole hit Travion Dickens with a 34-yard scoring pass. The snap on the extra point was bobbled, but Prescott managed to convert a two-point conversion instead, making it 8-0 with 11:07 left in the opening frame.

Lakeside returned the kick to the 35 and got to the 41 before turning it over on downs at the 41 four plays later.

Prescott started by moving backwards on a holding call, putting the ball on the Wolf 45. Poole missed Jacaylon Zachery on first down, but Jaylen Hopson broke loose to the 19, with the officials missing a horse collar tackle along the sideline. Two plays later Prescott was at the 18, only to move backwards on personal foul call that put the ball at the 27. Poole connected with Zachery to the 11. Travion Dickens got the call next, but fumbled at the eight with Lakeside recovering at the 10.

Four plays later, though, the Beavers turned the ball over. Facing a fourth and eight, Lakeside lined up in its normal offensive set, the T formation. A quick kick was attempted after a toss, only to have the “kick”, if it could be called one, blocked with Prescott taking over at the Lakeside eight.

Hopson took a handoff and found the end zone on the next play. The point after made it 15-0 with 3:19 left in the period.

Lakeside fumbled the kick, but recovered at the Beaver 23. The visitors managed to run four plays before Dickens redeemed his miscue with a pick six. The PAT put the Wolves up 22-0.

Lakeside started at its 35 and ran one play as time expired in the first. Period two opened with the Beavers facing a second and two on the Lakeside 43. Six plays later, the Beavers scored on a 22-yard run. The try for two was no good, but the Beavers were on the board with the score 22-6 with 9:17 showing.

Lakeside wouldn’t score again until the team’s final possession of the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach.

Prescott, on the other hand, put 28 on the board in the second to make sure the mercy rule would be in effect when play started in the second half.

Prescott’s first touchdown of the second quarter came on an eight-play drive with Hopson scoring from 17-yards out. The PAT made it 29-6 with 6:31 showing.

The Wolves recovered a fumble on the kick at the Lakeside 28. Four plays later, Zachery scored on an 18-yard reverse. The Wolves were hit with an illegal block on the extra point and saw Carlos Zacarias split the uprights from 35-yards out to make it 36-6 with 5:31 to go.

Lakeside ran three plays, after starting on its 26 and going backwards in three plays. The Beavers set up in the regular offensive formation again, and, once more, tried a rugby style kick only to have it blocked with Tryston Pettit picking it up and stepping in the end zone for six more. The PAT made it 43-6 with 2:29 remaining, but the Wolves weren’t finished scoring/.

The Beavers ran four plays with the drive ending after Rashawn Bell picked off a pass and returned it to the Beaver 25. Prescott, though, was flagged for a personal foul, moving the ball to the 37.

It didn’t matter as Poole found Zachery at the goal for six more. The PAT made it 50-6 and insured the mercy rule would be in effect at the start of the third. Prescott fielded nothing but substitutes in the second half.

Lakeside bobbled the kick, but fell on it at the 30. The Beavers kept the ball most of the third, driving to the Prescott 24 before turning it over on downs.

Prescott ran one play, with Branen Bradley gaining a yard as the third ended. The final 12 minutes began with Jayce Moore connecting with Bradley to the Lakeside 39. Three plays later, Branen broke free on a 31-yard run for the Wolves’ final score. The PAT was no good, leaving the score 56-6.

The Beavers started at the Lakeside 40 and drove 60 yards on eight plays, scoring on a 30-yard run. The game ended with the Beavers scoring on a two-point conversion to make it 56-14.

Prescott will be home in the Friendly Confines of Cummings Stadium Friday night as the Wolves host the winner of the Bismarck-Hackett game. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.