C.R. Prairie wins district title with 40-28 win over C.R. Kennedy

CEDAR RAPIDS - With six minutes to go in the game Friday night, Zach Ganske had 132 yards rushing. Teammate Joe Meyer had 132 yards rushing.

That's called balance.

And that's called an undisputed district championship for Cedar Rapids Prairie, which completed a turnaround regular season with a 40-28 win over Cedar Rapids Kennedy at Kingston Stadium.

The seventh-ranked Hawks (8-1) are guaranteed to host a Class 4A first-round playoff game next Friday. They won just four times last season in Mark Bliss' first year as their head coach.

'We wanted this win really bad,” Meyer said. 'I think it's the first district (or conference) championship we've had in, like, 25 years. It's huge for us. We know we've worked so hard. We knew the playoffs were coming, that we were already in, but this is something we wanted to get ... This was huge for us tonight.”

Meyer officially sealed the deal with a 40-yard touchdown run with 1:38 remaining. He finished with 173 yards and four scores.

Kennedy (5-4) led at halftime, 7-6, as the teams combined for 55 points in the second half. The Cougars needed to win this game by 12 points to be District 7's runner-up and make the playoffs.

Instead, it's Iowa City West that gets in.

'Three years ago, with the job I had in (Ozark) Missouri, at a school about the size of ours here, we were able to get to the (playoff) semifinals,” Bliss said. 'We were underdogs in about every game. This team reminds me of that team. We were never picked to win any games hardly at all. We were picked (here) preseason fourth by one paper and fifth by another. I'm just so proud of where we're at and what we've accomplished with our kids. God bless ‘em. They taught me something really big this year. The size of their hearts doesn't determine the size of the guy across from them. Their hearts are a lot bigger than the guys that they're playing.”

Prairie's myriad of formations and hard-to-prepare-for single-wing offense racked up 449 yards, including 388 on the ground. Ganske finished with 138 yards rushing and a touchdown.

By the time the season is over, it's very likely he and Meyer both will be 1,000-yard rushers. That's something.

'Those two guys have been our 1-2 punch,” Bliss said.

'That's just the o-line,” Meyer said. 'There's something they do that I've never really played with. We know if we keep our eyes up, it's going to be there. The holes are going to be there. Once you find it, you just put your foot on the throttle and keep running.”

Defensive lineman Chance Halfhill's 15-yard interception return for touchdown created a two-score separation early in the fourth quarter and was pivotal. Kennedy quarterback B.J. White threw for 221 yards and three TDs but was picked off four times.

Preston LaGrange had three of those.

'We told our kids all week not to look at the scoreboard,” Kennedy Coach Brian White said, when asked what the approach was considering a 12-point win put the Cougars into the playoffs. 'Our No. 1 priority tonight was to win the football game. If we did that, we were co-district champs. Then when we get towards the end of the game, we'll start worrying about the points. You can't put yourself in a 12-point hole to start with. You can't.”

Prairie took the opening kickoff and drove its way deep inside Kennedy territory. The first four plays from the Hawks accounted for 58 yards and took it to the Cougars 22.

But Kennedy's defense stiffened. On 4th-and-4 at the 16, Meyer was stopped for a 2-yard gain, two yards shy of first down.

Kennedy then countered with a long drive that took it from its 14 to the Prairie 28. Most of it was on the ground.

But on 2nd-and-long, Kennedy quarterback White threw an ill-advised, fluttering pass deep down the middle that LaGrange intercepted at about the 1.

Prairie then went three-and-out, with Kennedy taking over in good field position at its 45 after a punt. KeyShawn Allers, Payton McCarty and Justin Johnson teamed for seven rushes that took the ball to the Prairie 21 at quarter's end.

Kennedy faced a 4th-and-4 at the Prairie 21 on the first play of the second quarter. In a jumbo offensive package, QB Nick Duehr rolled to his right and threw back left to a wide-open Carter Krall for a touchdown.

Alex Stone's extra point made it a 7-0 game.

But Prairie came right back on the ensuing possession. A 16-play drive aided by a 15-yard facemask penalty was finished on Meyer's 1-yard TD run off right tackle on fourth down.

The extra-point attempt failed, however, with a questionable snap from center unable to be held. That was it for the scoring the rest of the half, though Kennedy blew a golden chance for another touchdown.

Ki Jenkins returned the kickoff after Prairie's touchdown 62 yards to the Hawks 33. On the Cougars' first play, Duehr came around on a reverse, pulled up and threw a pass downfield to Jenkins, who was open by about 20 yards but couldn't come down with the throw.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com