Prairie Ridge wears down Dundee-Crown
Prairie Ridge took a shot on the chin Friday night and didn't even flinch. Instead, after yielding an opening-drive touchdown to Dundee-Crown the Wolves got right up off the deck to score 41 unanswered points in a 41-7 Fox Valley Conference crossover win that spoiled the Chargers' homecoming celebration.
The Chargers (2-2) marched 72 yards on their opening drive to go up 7-0 on a Devin Johnson 1-yard touchdown run. However, the Wolves' defense allowed just 134 yards the rest of the way.
"It was just a matter of our defense getting a feel for the game," Prairie Ridge coach Chris Schremp said. "We knew they had some athletes and our focus was on limiting any big plays. I felt as the game went on our D-line did a much better job of getting to the holes and stopping their linemen from getting out on our linebackers."
Schremp credited nose guard Chris Dolleton and linebacker Robbie Palmquist with playing key roles in getting the defense on track.
On offense the Wolves racked up 323 yards rushing as they relied heavily on their triple option formation. Fullback Dean Brown led the ground attack with 162 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown.
"We just knew what we had to do," Brown said. "We wanted to get back to running our triple option. Our offensive line did a great job. I know as the fullback I'm going to good a lot of work and it's good knowing I have a group of guys like that in front of me."
PR (3-1) answered back after the D-C touchdown with a 72-yard scoring drive that ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Cole Brown.
The Wolves' ground game gradually wore down the Chargers' defense. Just before the half the Wolves marched 81 yards on 8 plays to take the lead 14-7 on a 17-yard run by quarterback Brett Covalt.
PR scored on its first 4 possessions of the second half to break the game open. Dean Brown capped a 64-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run that made it 21-7.
Jonathan Tieman's interception that gave the Wolves the ball at the D-C 36 set up the next score, a 1-yard touchdown run by Covalt.
Covalt added a 25-yard touchdown pass to Samson Evans. Zach Gulbransen finished the scoring with a 17-yard touchdown run.
Gulbransen, the Wolves' main outside running threat out of the option, finished with 86 yards on just 9 carries.
"We wanted to go back to our bread and butter this week," Schremp said. "So we spent a lot of time in practice just running our basic plays. I was really pleased with the way we came out and executed."
D-C quarterback Jeff Atherton had pass completions of 17, 10, and 21 yards on the opening drive, but completed just 4 more passes the rest of the game.
Caleb Parson led the Chargers in rushing with 66 yards on 17 carries. The sophomore Johnson saw a lot of action with 57 yards on 17 carries.
"We had more chances, but we just didn't continue to make the plays we needed to make," D-C coach Mike Steinhaus said. "(Prairie Ridge) played very disciplined and their offense is built to eventually wear you down."