Cedar Rapids Prairie runs into postseason with another blowout win

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cedar Rapids Prairie looks like a team peaking at the right time.

The No. 9-ranked Hawks rolled to their fourth straight win Friday at John Wall Field, downing Cedar Rapids Washington 57-21 to finish the regular season 4-2 and likely earn a first-round bye in the Class 4A playoffs, which begin next Friday.

After starting the season 3-0, an injury-riddled Warriors team fell to 3-4, but could also still get a first-round playoff by when the pairings are announced on Saturday.

'We're exactly where we hoped we'd be at this time,” Prairie Coach Mark Bliss said. 'My biggest thing has been that we've taken baby steps with these kids and the last three or four weeks they've been playing like MVC (division) champs and they played like it tonight.”

As is the case with a Bliss-coached team, the offense came from a variety of places. Seven different players scored touchdowns as the Hawks rolled up well over 500 yards of total offense.

Senior Nick Pearson led the rushing attack with 143 yards on 16 carries, scoring a pair of touchdowns. Eleven different players carried the ball for Prairie.

'All of our players have done a great job of preparing and competing,” Bliss said.

Washington was again without starting quarterback Henry Clymer. The Warriors struggled to get much going on offense until Prairie had built a 37-0 lead in the third quarter.

Sophomore Miles Thompson had a 62-yard scoring run and finished with 137 yards rushing on 12 carries. Jabari Dobbs added 98 yards on 12 carries.

With a likely bye week ahead, Bliss said he is confident his team will continue to be smart during these COVID-19 times.

'This team is probably more self-disciplined than any team we've ever had here,” Bliss said. 'We have great leadership and the kids have done a great job of isolating and bubbling themselves.

'Our kids spend a lot of time in the locker room and don't congregate with other big groups. They've been good with this so far and we expresed it to them again how important it is to make smart choices and put themselves in position to make a strong playoff run.”

AT JOHN WALL FIELD

CRW CRP

First downs 9 18

Rushes-yards 40-269 36-391

Passing yards 44 144

Comp-Att-Int 4-10-1 10-22-0

Punts-Avg. 8-23.0 3-44.7

Penalties-Yards 6-43 2-22

C.R. Washington 0 0 7 14 - 21

C.R. Prairie 14 17 13 13 - 57

CRP - Nick Pearson 40 run (AJ Walter kick)

CRP - Nick Fetters 13 run (Walter kick)

CRP - FG Walter 38

CRP - Adam Longwell 20 run (Walter kick)

CRP - Dylan Beck 20 pass from Brandon Vlicko (Walter kick)

CRP - Elijah Ward 35 pass from Dionte Fliss (kick failed)

CRW - Miles Thompson 62 run (Seth Moore kick)

CRP - Pearson 5 run (Anna Lantz kick)

CRP - Trey Peterson 31 run (kick failed)

CRW - Michael Blank 2 run (Moore kick)

CRP - Braxton Martin 7 run (Maguire Venable kick)

CRW - Jabari Dobbs 4 run (Moore kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - CR Washington: Jabari Dobbs 12-98, Reid Ortiz 1-12, Miles Thompson 12-137, Brandon Vlicko 15-22. C.R. Prairie: Nick Pearson 16-143, Dionte Fliss 1-12, Brandon Vlicko 2-14, Nick Fetters 1-12 Adam Longwell 4-63, Ceondae Adams 1-22, Charles Hodges 2-4, Jersey Irons 2-34, Brayden Kolosick 2-11, Trey Peterson 3-64, Braxton Martin 1-7, Team 1-(minus 1).

PASSING - CR Washington: Reid Ortiz 2-3-0-8, Michael Blank 2-7-1-36. C.R. Prairie: Dionte Fliss 8-19-0-128, Brandon Vlicko 2-3-0-26.

RECEIVING - CR Washington: KeAndre China 2-8, Zaren Ross-Carr 1-4, Maxwell Bjornsen 1-32. C.R. Prairie: Elijah Ward 2-43, Cortland Forslund 3-13, Adam Longwell 2-17, Alex White 1-5, Dylan Beck 1-20, Brandon Vlicko 1-26.