Makelle Taylor ties Cedar Rapids Prairie record with 5 TDs against Iowa City West

IOWA CITY — Have a game, Makelle Taylor.

No. 10 Cedar Rapids Prairie got back on the winning track Friday defeating Iowa City West, 49-28, in a 5A District 4 contest at Trojan Stadium.

The Hawks were led by Taylor, who tied a school record for most touchdowns in a game with five.

“It’s really just my line,” Taylor said. “We just came out here trying to destroy everything the whole game. We just wanted to prove to everybody that we’re here to stay.

“We’re trying to get a playoff win. We’re trying to get to the (UNI) Dome.”

Prairie’s offense stayed hot throughout the contest and was never forced to punt.

Taylor got the scoring started for Prairie (6-2), capping an opening 10-play, 68-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard TD.

After forcing the Trojans (4-4) into three-and-out, Casey Kelley capped a six-play, 35-yard drive with a 12-yard rushing TD. After a miscue on the snap, kicker Sawyer Slezak picked the ball up and darted in for the 2-point conversion.

Prairie struck again early in the second on another Kelley touchdown, this one from 15 yards out.

Trailing 22-0, the Trojans pulled some tricks from their sleeve.

Facing a fourth-and-3 from their own 33, West lined up in punt formation and snapped it to Zach Logsdon, who ran for 25 yards.

Two plays later, Christian Janis took a handoff from Jack Wallace and threw a strike to Mason Woods for a 41-yard score. Wallace ran in the ensuing 2-point conversion.

The Trojans then forced and recovered a Prairie fumble at their own 23.

Four plays later, Wallace found Woods for a 64-yard TD, cutting Prairie’s lead to seven with 53 seconds left in the second quarter.

That proved to be far too much time to leave Prairie’s offense as Cal Sullivan found Taylor down the sideline for a 43-yard score just before half, giving the Hawks a 29-15 lead.

“Deception is just one of the ingredients of what we do,” Prairie Coach Mark Bliss said. “If we do it right, it’s fun to watch.”

On the first play of the second half, Prairie forced and recovered a fumble at West’s 31.

On the seventh play of the ensuing drive, Taylor added his second rushing TD from a yard out to make it 35-15 with 8:21 left in the third.

West answered, orchestrating a seven-play, 89-yard scoring drive capped by a 9-yard pass from Wallace to Janis to make it 35-22.

Taking the ball over with 4:38 left in the third, Prairie drove methodically and ate a good chunk of clock before Taylor punched in his third 1-yard TD with 8:43 left.

“Tonight alone, just based on what they were doing defensively, we knew we could run the ball a little bit and establish the run game,” Bliss said. “We tried to help our defense a little bit, too. We decided maybe we’d just chew a little clock and find a way to get into the end zone, which our kids were able to do.”

West, again, refused to give in. A 78-yard connection from Wallace to Todd Rent set up a 1-yard score for Braden Gladwin.

Taylor then added his fourth rushing TD of the game, this time from 3 yards out with 4:05 to go to round out the scoring and tie the school record.

He rushed 27 times for 149 yards and had three receptions for 66 yards.

“He’s a special player,” Bliss said. “I’m just proud of his efforts.”

The victory gets Prairie one win away from clinching home-field advantage in its first-round playoff matchup. The Hawks will have an opportunity to earn that advantage at home next Friday in a matchup against Linn-Mar.

“It would mean so much,” Taylor said. “We got a home playoff game last year. It would help our advantages going into the second round and us finally getting to the Dome.”

“We’re 6-2, and we take care of business hopefully next week we’ll be where we want to be,” Bliss said.