Distant lightning and fourth down conversions weren't enough to energize the Prairie Falcons to a homecoming win as the Kelso Hilanders escaped District Stadium with a 20-14 victory on Thursday, Oct. 9.
At the start of the game, lightning provided some interesting views as a storm rolled over the hills just west of the Columbia River in Oregon. On the field, the Kelso Hilanders dominated the first half on defense, but the Falcons stayed in the fight down just 13 at half.
The second half began with a successful onside kick to surprise the Hilanders but did not capitalize on the free possession.
In the third quarter, Kelso pulled away with another touchdown to go up 20-0. But, as time seemed to hit zeros for a couple of seconds at the end of the third, the Falcons snapped the ball, the horn sounded to signal the end of the quarter, then Prairie quarterback Deven Vigue ran it in for a touchdown to get the Falcons down two scores at 20-7.
With the game at 20-7, later in the fourth quarter, the Falcons offense saw three fourth downs in one drive. The Falcons converted all three and narrowed the score down to 20-14. However, the Falcons didn’t have another successful onside kick in them. Ultimately, with about a minute remaining, Prairie’s defense had the Hilanders at fourth and about an inch but Kelso prevailed to ice the game.
“They kind of took Deven (Vigue) out in the first quarter with the first series we had, you know,” Falcons head coach Junior Miller said. “He battled back. He said it’s too important of a game to not play. So, you know, he’s a baller. He stayed in and gave everything he had and honestly we won the second half. That’s what we asked him to do.”
With Vigue struggling at times with an injury, the game may have been a different story with a fully healthy star at quarterback.
“Deven’s always going to try and go whether he’s hurt or not, and he’ll tell you he’s good,” Miller said. “We asked him several times, and obviously we’re proud of him. A lot of guys that got banged up a little bit in that game, nobody wanted to come out. They knew how important the game was, but our season’s not over.”
Now the Falcons look to a tough league battle with Evergreen in hopes of gaining an upper hand in the 3A Greater St. Helens League standings instead of falling behind. Prairie will face off against Evergreen High School at McKenzie Stadium on Friday, Oct. 17, at 4:30 p.m.
“We win that one, we’re sitting in pretty decent shape,” Miller said. “I mean, we’re going to be looking at a tiebreaker if we all go 3-2 or 4-1 in the league.”
