Prairie shakes Cedar Falls all about, 20-0

By Jim Ecker

CEDAR RAPIDS – The Prairie Hawks did a rousing rendition of the Hokey Pokey in their locker room Friday night after they whipped Cedar Falls, 20-0, in a key Class 5A football game at John Wall Field.

The Hawks put their right foot in, they put their right foot out, they put their right foot in and they shook those Cedar Falls Tigers all about.

It’s an old Hayden Fry tune and the Prairie Hawks have been doing it for years after big wins.

Prairie made a bold statement on its first possession when the Hawks controlled the ball for more than nine minutes for a 73-yard touchdown drive, and they held the potent Cedar Falls offense to 32 yards and one measly first down in the entire half.

The Tigers were averaging 30.3 points and coming off a 37-0 victory over Bettendorf, a team that defeated Prairie earlier this season, but this game belonged to the Hawks for 48 minutes.

“Our motto this week was we have to be tougher for longer,” said Prairie Coach Kyle Knock, borrowing an inspirational phrase from former Iowa State coach Matt Campbell.

That first drive of the game was a classic, with 12 running plays and pinpoint passes by Cael Kongshaug on a 17-play march, ending with a two-yard run by Dawson Kahl.

“The biggest thing that came out of that drive was to make a statement that we’ll be here all night,” said Kongshaug.

Kongshaug completed 11 of 15 passes for 109 yards and a 13-yard touchdown to Ace Schwieger, who made a leaping catch in the end zone for a 13-lead early in the second quarter on Prairie’s second possession of the game.

Cedar Falls drove to the Prairie 7-yard line late in the third quarter, but the Hawks sacked Baylor Petrie on fourth down to turn the Tigers away. That was Prairie’s first big defensive play of the second half and then came another.

Petrie left the game briefly early in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a leg cramp and was replaced by Ben Gerdman, who promptly threw a pass that hung in the air and was intercepted by Colt Hobson, who raced 60 yards for a pick-6 that made it 20-0 with the PAT with 10:30 remaining.

“Yeah, I saw the second quarterback come in and he couldn’t handle the spotlight,” said Hobson.

Petrie returned, but Owen Marxen intercepted two of his passes to seal the deal.

Prairie raised its record to 5-2 and greatly enhanced its playoff posture.

“Man, it’s really impressive,” Kongshaug said of the victory. “The crowd came out and was rocking all night. We put up a goose-egg on the board with three turnovers.”

The Hawks have been on a mission since getting thrashed 47-0 at Waukee Northwest four weeks ago with 70 points apiece against Jefferson and Hempstead and now the shutout of Cedar Falls, which fell to 5-2.

The loss to Waukee Northwest dropped Prairie to 2-2. A three game winning streak has followed, with two games left.

“I said if we want a home playoff game, we have to win out,” Knock remarked.

Hobson finished with 87 yards rushing and Kahl had 85. Carsyn Hand, who his Achilles last spring, was cleared this week and helped Prairie at defensive end, returning several weeks earlier than expected.

Cedar Falls     0   0   0   0 – 0
Prairie             7   6   0   7 – 20

P – Kahl 2 run (Boxa kick)
P – Schwieger 13 pass from Kongshaug (pass failed)
P – Hobson 60 interception (Boxa kick)