Wolves escape Homer, 9-0

By John Miller, 10/14/22 9:57 PM

HOMER, LA – Penalties proved too much for either team to overcome Friday night and killed drives for both teams.

However, when all was said and done the Wolves managed to post a 9-0 win over the Pelicans of Homer. The Wolves remain undefeated at 7-0, while Homer fell to 5-2 on the season.

While penalties were problematic throughout the game, which saw 19 penalties accepted, 13 against Prescott and six against homer, both defenses proved to be all but impenetrable. The Wolves were unable to get the passing game going throughout the night and had fits on the ground in the first half. Homer’s passing game was practically nonexistent, but the Pelicans had a potent ground attack.

Prescott started the game from its 33, managed five plays and punted to the Homer 4.

The Pelicans was hit with a holding penalty just outside the end zone moving the ball to the two. The second play saw Prescott’s defense swarm the ball carrier in the end zone for a safety with 7:43 left in the opening quarter.

Jaylan Johnson bobbled the kick, but picked it up and got to the Homer 48. The run was nullified by a holding call against the Wolves, moving the ball to the Prescott 36. Three plays later, Prescott lined up to punt, but saw the kick blocked and recovered at the Wolf 30.

Homer looked to be set up to score the first touchdown of the night, but a high snap on fourth down saw a Pelican call on the errant pigskin at the Prescott 38, where the Wolves took over.

This is how the game went  as both defenses made life miserable for the opposing offense.

On its next possession, the Wolves were hit with three penalties, preventing the offense from doing much of anything. Prescott punted to the Homer 18 and saw the ball returned to the 36.

Homer completed a pass on first down to the 46, but saw the quarterback sacked on the next play. Two plays later, the Pelicans punted to the the Prescott 46.

After a holding call moved Prescott back to the Wolf 42, Carston Poole connected with Eric Grigsby to the Homer 49 ending the first quarter.

Still, it was more of the same in the second period as Prescott managed to get to the Homer 40, but had to punt when Poole was sacked at the Wolf 45. The punt pinned the Pelicans at the team’s 12.

Homer made it to its 38 before a motion call negated a run to the Prescott 35 and killed the drive. The Pelicans ended up turning the ball over on downs at the Homer 38.

Normally, this would be an invitation for Prescott to put six on the board. Not this time. Prescott made it to the 20 and a personal foul moved the ball to the 10. Then the wheels came off as a bad snap was recovered by Poole at the Homer 20 and a pass to Grigsby fell incomplete in the end zone. Prescott ended up turning the ball over on downs with 4:46 left in the half.

It was three and out for Homer on its next possession with the punt rolling to the Wolf 31.

Prescott made it to the 37 in two plays and ended the half with Poole getting picked off.

Unbelievably, the halftime score was 2-0, something few would have thought possible as both teams have proven capable of scoring more than 50 in a game this year.

Homer returned the kick to the 30 to open the third frame, which was delayed for 20 minutes due to an injury to a Pelican player. The Pelicans made it to the Prescott 19 before turning the ball over on downs.

At this point, the Wolves put together the teams most promising drive of the game. Prescott drove to the Homer 23 on the strength of runs by Travion Dickens and Poole. However, the drive ended with Poole getting picked off in the end zone, giving Homer the ball on its 20.

Still, the Prescott defense proved to be more than the Pelican offense could handle as Homer punted to Rashawn Bell at the Prescott 16 with 23 seconds left.

Dickens gained two as the third came to an end. The Wolves made it to the Prescott 38 before a holding call moved the team back to the 27 and ended up forcing Prescott to punt. The punt was bobbled but recovered at the Homer 20 by a Pelican.

Two plays saw the Pelicans go nowhere, but Prescott was hit with an interference call, moving the ball to the 36. A bad snap resulted in a fumble recovered by Talan Smith at the Homer 37.

Poole carried twice to the 32, before an illegal motion call moved the Wolves back five to the 37. Poole found Dickens at the 35 before finally completing a pass to Grigsby, who fought his way into the end zone for the game’s only touchdown with 5:54 left. Prescott was hit with an excessive celebration call, making the point after attempt a 25-yard field goal. John Rabadan split the uprights to give Prescott a 9-0 lead.

The following kick was returned to the Homer 41. On the third play of the drive, Bell picked off a pass at the Wolf 23.

At this point, the Wolves worked the clock, using as much as possible. Still, Prescott had to punt with the ball rolling to the Homer 27 with 1:08 showing.

Homer didn’t attempt a pass, but ran the ball three times ending the game.

Prescott will tangle with the Smackover Buckaroos Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.