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Prairie roll past Linn-Mar 38-0 after long weather delay
Weather in Marion caused a two-hour delay but that didn’t stop Prairie from defeating Linn-Mar convincingly in week 1
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MARION - Not only did it take some extra time for the game to get started, it took even longer for the Prairie football team to find its stride.
The Hawks and the Linn-Mar Lions endured a two-hour weather delay on Friday night at Linn-Mar Stadium. Once things got started, Coach Kyle Knock's Hawks struggled early, turning the ball over twice.
It all turned Prairie's way during a 35-second span in the second quarter. The first big play came from junior Drew Bennis, who grabbed a booming punt from Linn-Mar's Bradley Duncan-Porter on the Hawks' 8-yard-line. He weaved his way down the field to the end zone. Then, two plays after the kickoff, Colt Hobson fell on a Hunter Wildman fumble in the end zone for a second score.
That gave Prairie a 14-0 lead and the Hawks dominated the rest of the way en route to a 38-0 win over the Lions, spoiling the coaching debut for Linn-Mar's Duane Orr.
"We struggled to finish drives in the first quarter," Knock said. "Drew Bennis got us going on the punt return. The kid is a heck of an athlete, a great track athlete and a heck of a basketball player. We needed a spark and he gave us a spark."
Bennis said the depth of Duncan-Porter's punt forced him to make a change.
"It was a middle return call," said the junior speedster. "I just saw the right side open up and I took it to the house from there. I know we didn't start off great, but I just wanted to do something for the team."
Linn-Mar had its chances to get on the board. The Lions forced a pair of turnovers, but were unable to convert on a pair of field goal attempts.
"That's tough to overcome, especially when you have been so competitive," Orr said of the missed field goals and the two big plays from Prairie. "We had chances to put points on the board and take the lead, but we just weren't able to convert.
"You know sometimes in weather games, points are precious," he continued. "I thought if we could put up some points it would seal that momentum that we had because we were playing so well defensively."
Even after falling behind, the Lion defense continued to have their moments. Prairie added a 22-yard field goal from Junior Boxa just before halftime, then added three more scores in the second half to finish off the shutout.
Hobson, who led the Hawks with 111 yards on 16 carries, scored on a 4-yard run late in the third quarter. Cael Kongshaug hit Tae Alexander with a 10-yard scoring strike midway through the fourth quarter and reserve Dane Mai capped the Hawk scoring with a 2-yard run in the game's final three minutes.
Knock said his players are aware there is plenty of room for improvement, but he was pleased with several things.
"I thought our defense played really well," he said. "They flew around all night. Our special teams were on top of everything. The offense has some work to do, but the good thing is we had people in position to make the plays. Now we just have to work on the execution."
For Linn-Mar, junior Hud Turner led the rushing attack with 84 yards on 18 carries.
Orr has a team that is not blessed with much size or experience, but he saw a lot of positives despite the final outcome.
"We saw what can happen when you have a few little small breakdowns," he said, "but the effort was phenomenal. We had a great defensive gameplan and the tackling was solid early on until we started wearing down a little bit."
Prairie stays on the road next week, playing Cedar Rapids Kennedy at Kingston Stadium. Linn-Mar hits the road for a match-up with Ankeny Centennial.
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