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Slow start doesn’t stop Prairie Ridge
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Updated: October 8, 2011 11:59AM
Corey Barcoft didn’t see Friday night’s Fox Valley Valley showdown unfolding quite this way.
Barcoft and the Prairie Ridge defense had given up just four touchdowns in the first six games of the season. But they surrendered two on Jacobs’ first two drives Friday and needed Brad Simms to come off the sideline to make a fourth-down stop just to prevent a third score.
But that was the beginning of the Wolves’ recovery and by the time it was over Prairie Ridge was a 35-14 winner.
“We came out flat, we did not come out ready to go,” said Barcoft, who along with Corey Peterson had interceptions for Prairie Ridge. “We knew we had to gut it out.”
Simms, hobbled by a sprained ankle most of the week, wasn’t supposed to play on Friday unless the No. 7 Wolves (7-0, 4-0) really needed him. And with No. 22 Jacobs (6-1, 3-1) already up 14-0 and facing a fourth-and-two at the Wolves’ 15 midway through the second quarter, they really did.
Simms stopped Caz Zyks (19 carries, 100 yards) for no gain and Prairie Ridge went 85 yards in seven plays to start its comeback, scoring on Nick Nissen’s eight-yard option keeper.
“That really energized our team,” Prairie Ridge coach Chris Schremp said of Simms’ stop. “I was proud of the kids because they weathered the storm. I was a little nervous because, was it a quiet confidence that they knew they could come back, or were they just [thinking], ‘Oh my gosh, Jacobs is going to beat us’? Obviously it was more of a quiet confidence.”
The Wolves’ offense gave Schremp a reason to believe, getting two touchdowns apiece from Jordan Getzelman (nine carries, 146 yards) and Connor Greenwald (16 carries, 82 yards) in the second half.
“I think we came out with more passion,” said Getzelman, who had a 70-yard touchdown run to tie the score with 10:18 left in the third quarter and iced the game with a 27-yard scoring carry with 2:47 left. Greenwald’s four-yard touchdown put Prairie Ridge ahead to stay at 10:07 of the fourth quarter and he also scored from two yards out with 6:15 left.
“Being down 14-7 at the half was kind of a shocker,” Getzelman said. “But we knew we had four quarters [to play].”
Jacobs built its early lead on Kyle Wright’s eight-yard touchdown run and Jason Judson’s 10-yard scoring pass to Zyks. Evan Bishop’s 24-yard completion on a fake punt kept alive the drive that ended in Simms’ big defensive play.
“It was really important, that one fourth down we didn’t execute,” Jacobs coach Bill Mitz said. “Then it was kind of a seesaw, back-and-forth game. We had a couple plays we didn’t make. The final score, I don’t think was indicative of how the game was played.”
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