Prairie drops Jefferson in season opener

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cedar Rapids Prairie's Trey Beckman and Mitchell Christensen provided quite the 1-2 punch.One landed a solid blow at the start while the other provided the knockout near the end.The Prairie duo powered the Hawks to a 24-7 win over Cedar Rapids Jefferson in a Mississippi Valley Conference season-opener Thursday night at Kingston Stadium."We're fortunate we have two guys we feel can run the ball effectively," Prairie Coach Mike Morrissey said. "The guys up front do a nice job, setting the pace on that. Can't move it without movement up front from those guys."Christensen rambled for 122 yards and Beckman added 86, including a 63 yard burst around left end just three plays into the game.Both of them played key roles in giving the Hawks a lead for good. Prairie took possession with 1:03 to go in the first half. Christensen led the Hawks down the field with consecutive carries of 11 and 21 yards, setting up his 3-yard run to convert a 4th and 1 at the 15, when Morrissey showed confidence in his offense, electing to skip the short field goal for a second time in the half.After a sack and timeout, Beckman, who has committed to play baseball at University of Nebraska, hit Jesse Vizzini across the middle for 18 yards. Vizzini glided to the end zone for the score and a 14-7 lead with just seven seconds remaining.The Hawks lost a lot of talent in the skill positions from last season's squad that reached the Class 4A state quarterfinals. They have worked hard to improve the run game this year."I think we're a little bit ahead of the game from where we were last year," Morrissey said. "Hopefully, we can keep progressing, and take every game one at a time."Both defenses held strong, keeping the third quarter scoreless. Then Christensen planted the big blow early in the fourth.Christensen bolted down the right sideline for a 44-yard touchdown, putting the Hawks up, 21-7 with 10:01 to go in the game. Sam Drysdale added a 28-yard field goal for the final score.Prairie rushed for more than 240 yards. The Hawks defense bent a little but didn't break after giving up an early score.Jefferson fought the entire game, answering Beckman's first touchdown on the next possession.The J-Hawks manufactured a 13-play, 75-yard drive powered by quarterback Layne Sullivan. He converted all Jefferson's first downs on the drive, rushing for 47 yards. He capped the drive by rolling left and hitting Dakota Tomkins on the run for a 7-yard TD and tying the score at seven apiece.Sullivan appears to be a key component for Jefferson, looking to rebound from a 1-8 mark last year in Brian Webb's first season as J-Hawks head coach. He rushed 24 times for more than 50 yards. Sullivan also threw for 81 yards, including 44 to Chaney Floyd.Webb was not settling for moral victories after the game."The effort was great," Webb said. "It was just a lack of execution. That's the bottom line."

CR Prairie 24, CR Jeff. 7

AT KINGSTON STADIUM

TEAM STATISTICS

CR Prairie

CR Jeff.

First downs

15

11

Rushes-yards

39 - 242

39 - 100

Passing yards

55

81

Comp-Att-Int

5 - 16 - 2

9 - 21 - 3

Total yards

303

182

Fumbles-lost

1 - 0

1 - 0

Punts-average

4 - 39.25

3 - 30.3

Penalties-yards

7 - 43

2 - 15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:  CR Prairie – Mitchell Christensen 17-122 , Trey Beckman 9-86 , Keagan Pinter 7-35 , Dylan Kuchemann 3-6 , Jesse Vizzini 1-5 , Team 2-(-12)  CR Jeff. – Layne Sullivan 24-51 , Michael Moncivais 5-17 , Cameron Frazier 2-9 , Dakota Tomkins 3-14 , Nick O'Connell 2-5 , Chaney Floyd 2-3 , Trae Gesling 1-2 , Team 1-(-1)

Passing:  CR Prairie – Beckman 5-15-2-55 , Kuchemann 0-1-0-0  CR Jeff. – Sullivan 9-21-3-81

Receiving:  CR Prairie – Jomaryon Simpson 3-23 , Vizzini 1-18 , Kentrel Smith 1-14  CR Jeff. – Floyd 4-44 , Moncivais 2-19 , Brandon Wiederin 1-10 , Tomkins 1-7 , Frazier 1-1

SCORE BY QUARTERS

CR Prairie

7

7

10

–

24

CR Jeff.

7

–

7

SCORING SUMMARY

CRP - Beckman 63 run (Sam Drysdale kick)

CRJ - Tomkins 7 pass from Sullivan (Rocha kick)

CRP - Vizzini 18 pass from Beckman (Drysdale kick)

CRP - Christensen 44 run (Drysdale kick)

CRP - FG Drysdale 28