Prairie View playoff loss marks end of era
- David Heidrick
- Nov 12
- 4 min read
By David Heidrick, Journal contributor
On Friday, Nov. 7, the Tigers of Jefferson West (8-2) traveled from Meridian to La Cygne to take on the Prairie View Buffalos (8-2). The Buffalos have been a mainstay in the playoffs since 2017 while the Tigers had a combined nine wins in the previous five seasons.
The Buffalos have been led by a dominate run game and a senior backfield with multiple three- and four-year starters, while the Tigers’ top player has been gunslinger freshman quarterback Brixtin Schwinn, the son of head coach Jeff Schwinn. The two contrasting styles were sure to make for an interesting matchup.
Things started out well for the Buffalos with a huge touchdown run of 54 yards by senior Parker Schwarz, and the defense forcing a turnover when Ethan Gray stripped a Tiger receiver of the ball and Jay Muse recovered, leading to another Schwarz touchdown. At that point, the score was 14-0 Prairie View, and the Buffalos were outgaining the Tigers 126-11 in total yardage.
A big kick return, followed by a face mask call and a 20-yard scramble by Schwinn put the TIgers on the Prairie View 11 yard line. The defense stiffened, forcing a turnover on downs.
Senior Josh Goodwin got the offense out of the shadow of their own end zone with a 36-yard rumble up the left hash. Schwarz followed that up with a 51-yard sprint up the left hash, but pulled up with a lame hamstring at the 9 yard line. That was the final play of the first quarter. The Buffalos led 14-0, and 213 yards rushing, with Schwarz piling up 133 yards on just nine carries.
And that is when the wheels fell off for Prairie View.
A rush for zero yards was followed by a holding penalty on second down. A loss of five after a Prairie View timeout led to a 37-yard field goal attempt by Carlos Cervantes. It was no good. Jefferson West took advantage, with a mix of short runs and passes out of a mostly spread offense, they marched down the field. Jay Muse stymied the scoring threat by picking off a pass at the 8 yard line and running it back to the 17 yard line.
Two Buffalo false starts backed the offense up and gave them a first and 20 at the 7. Tiger defensive tackle Osiris Unruh burst through the line and sacked Jay Muse at the two yard line. After a botched handoff, the Prairie View offense was looking at third and 26 from inside their own 1 yard line.
Muse faked a handoff to Schwarz off the left tackle and kept it, racing over 50 yards, appearing to get the Buffalos out of the hole. But alas, penalties came back to haunt them again. Offsetting holding and horse-collar tackle penalties forced Prairie View to replay the down. A 9 yard run by Muse led to a fourth-and-16 situation.
Jefferson West took a time out and Muse was able to punt the ball away to the 35 yard line. After a 12-yard pass and a 5-yard offside penalty, the Tigers were back in the redzone. The next play was a touchdown for the Tigers from Schwinn to Crayton Holmon.
After the ensuing kickoff, Muse suffered a shoulder injury on the second play of the drive. Muse was already filling in for injured started Wyatt Attebery. On the next play, with an injured Schwarz under center now, salt was poured in the wound. Senior Josh Goodwin was ejected from the game after an official ruled that he threw a punch.
Schwarz looked for an open receiver on fourth-and-long, but the ball fell incomplete, giving the Tigers a very short field. Schwinn took the offense right down the field to score, leading to a tied ball game at halftime. The Buffalo offense managed just 3 yards in the second quarter, while the Tigers piled up over 100.
The second half was a total loss for the Buffalos. Jayce Williams came in at quarterback, his first meaningful varsity action under center. Parker’s hamstring limited him to the point where he could not run even half speed. With the injuries and the ejection, frustrations mounted for Prairie View. With the offense unable to mount an attack, the defense was put up to the task.
However, with seniors Schwarz as the middle linebacker and heartbeat of the defense moving at half speed, Goodwin missing from the defensive line, and Muse and missing from the secondary, the Jefferson West offense took off. They went up 28-14 midway through the third quarter. At that point, the Prairie View offense featured an injured running back under center and two freshmen running backs. That didn’t last long as freshman running back, safety, and kick returner Gabe Moore was knocked out of the game with a brutal hit during a carry.
At this point, the entire starting backfield and receiving core were new or out of position. Three-fourths of the secondary and over half of the entire defense were backups. Jefferson West moved the ball with ease on offense, with quarterback Schwinn throwing for four scores in the period. Entering the fourth quarter, the score was Jefferson West 41, Prairie View 14.
The Tigers scored once more, then the offenses quickly bled out the clock for a final score of 49-14.
Parker Schwarz finished his high school career as the fourth all-time leading rusher in state history with 7,482 yards as well as 101 rushing touchdowns. He finished with 8,394 all-purpose yards (everything except passing) and 107 total touchdowns.
Josh Goodwin finished his high school career with 2,277 rushing yards and 38 total touchdowns, 26 rushing, all top-five numbers in school history.
This was the highest scoring team in school history with 449 points, an average of 44.9 per game. The team also rushed for 4,018 yards, another school record. A full statistical breakdown will follow in another article.
Comments