Buffalos control Yellowjackets on both sides of the ball
By Roger Sims, Journal staff
With reporting by David Heidrick
Except for a penalty-laden drive in the third quarter, the Prairie View Buffalos dominated the game against Fredonia on both offense and defense. That led to a 41-6 win for Prairie View at a home game on Friday, Oct. 9.
The Yellowjackets scored early in the game on a 28-yard touchdown pass in a 40-yard drive midway through the first quarter. But the point-after run was stopped by the Prairie View defense, which shut down Fredonia’s offense for the remainder of the game.
Prairie View responded with a 6-play, 66-yard drive that included a 25-yard run by senior running back Reed Krull. Senior running back Carter Browning ended the drive with an 11-yard run for a touchdown with 3:06 remaining in the quarter. The point after kick by Carlos Cervantes was blocked, but the score was tied at 6-6.
After Fredonia was forced to punt on fourth down and 20 early in the second quarter, the Buffalos took possession on their own 32, beginning a 68-yard drive capped off by Krull in for a touchdown on a 28-yard run. The point-after run by Carter was good, and Prairie View had a 14-6 advantage with 7:56 remaining in the first half.
The Yellowjacket’s subsequent drive stalled after the Buffalo defense allowed only 3 yards on three plays, and a punt downed at the Prairie View 47 saw the beginning of a 53-yard Buffalo drive that had the home team on the Fredonia 5 yard line on first down.
Sophomore quarterback Gabe Moore went up the middle on the snap, getting the ball just across the goal line as he was stopped with 1:59 remaining in the half. A botched snap on the point-after kick saw Cervantes covering the ball for no score. Prairie View increased their lead 20-6.
The Buffalos received the kickoff at the beginning of the second half, beginning their drive from their own 29. But the drive immediately ran into a penalty headwind. After a 14-yard run and a first and 10 by Browning, three snaps and three false start penalties had the Buffalos backed up to their own 28 with a first down 25 yard.
A 31-yard scamper by Krull revived the drive, but two plays later the Buffalos had a first and 20 on the Fredonia 40. Two plays later Browning had Prairie View at the 9 yard line with a first down before completing the drive with a touchdown with 8:04 remaining in the quarter.
A reverse to Krull on the point-after attempt was good for two points and the Buffalos were up 28-6.
Fredonia went three and out on its next possession and Moore returned the Yellowjacket punt to the Prairie View 42. Alternating between Krull and Browning and a carry by Kale Page, Moore guided the Buffalos to another touchdown with 3:46 remaining in the quarter. The Yellowjackets again blocked Cervantes’ kick and the score stood at 34-6.
The Buffalos scored a final time with only 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter on a 17-yard run by Krull. The kick by Cervantes was good, and as the quarter ended it was Prairie View 41, Fredonia 6, and that was the final score as the clock ran out in the final quarter.
The Buffalo defense held the Yellowjackets to only five first downs and 90 total yards on offense. In contrast the Buffalos racked up 513 yards offensively – all of it on the ground – and had 27 first down plays.
The Yellowjackets used the pass to get around the Prairie View defense with senior quarterback Griffyn Salmon throwing 11 passes for a total of 62 yards, including the pass for the touchdown in the opening quarter.
Krull gained 205 yards on 10 carries including two touchdowns. Browning had 189 yards on 22 carries and three touchdowns. Moore had a net 23 yards on the ground with one touchdown, two pass attempts with no completions and one interception.
Senior Hunter McCool contributed 29 yards on the ground, freshman Colton McCool had 25 yards on three carries, sophomore Kale Page had 24 yards net on five carries.
The one thing the Yellowjackets were good at: stopping the point-after kick. Cervantes was one for four attempts with two kicks blocked and another that forced him to cover on a snap.
However, the team’s place kicker kept Fredonia deep in their own territory to begin drives, all but one were unsuccessful. On seven kickoffs, Cervantes averaged 44 yards per kick for a total of 310 yards.
Prairie View, now 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the Pioneer League, will host the Anderson County Bulldogs, 1-5 overall and 1-4 in league play, this Friday, Oct. 16. The Bulldogs’ sole league win this year was against the Osawatomie Trojans at home, 33-14.
Prairie View lost to the Trojans by score of 10-7 in their season opener, however, there were key plays that Osawatomie prevented the Buffalos from capitalizing on: a long touchdown run called back on a holding penalty, and walking off the field at halftime with the ball inside the 5 yard line and downs still remaining but not time left on the clock.
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