Falcons coming off a Week 2 loss to Hockinson

Prairie Falcons (0-2)

Week 1: Heritage 28, Prairie 14

Week 2: Hockinson 42, Prairie 6

Next: Black Hills vs. Prairie, 7 p.m. at District Stadium

Prairie kept things close for a half against one of the top Class 2A teams in the state.

Making things happen:

Carson Slagle had a couple plays that jumped off the screen while watching this game. In the first quarter, he had a sack, which led to Hockinson getting into punt formation. (Sure, Hockinson got a first down on a fake punt, but still, the Prairie defense got the Hawks to fourth down.)

In the third quarter, Slagle didn’t get a sack, but it was better than a sack. He hit the Hockinson quarterback, forcing a bad throw which was intercepted by Aaron Brumley.

Top play on offense:

One of the highlights for the Prairie offense came in the second half on a wide receiver screen from Jayson Maddux to Zeke Dixson. The play went for more than 25 yards, and the best part? Dixson followed three offensive linemen hustling down the field, looking for more blocks.

Highlight catch:

Prairie got on the board when Jake Bobst snagged a pass from Maddux with one hand. That is the way to avoid a shutout.

Coach Speak:

What did Kevin Baker learn about his team in Week 2? “Offensively we need to get into a rhythm.  We had some good performances from younger players in our game against Hockinson and look forward to working more of those kids into our game plan.”

Coaching staff’s pick for MVP on offense: Jake Bobst. “He ran his routes well, worked hard to get open and made a great one-handed catch at the goalline to give us our only score of the game,’’ Baker said.

Coaching staff’s pick for MVP on defense: Carson Slagle. Led the team in tackles, plus had that sack and the hit that forced the turnover.

(By the way, I promise I wrote my notes prior to hearing from Coach Baker. Guess we saw the same things!)

Thoughts on Week 3 vs. Black Hills:

“Defensively we have to step it up,’’ Baker said. “Black Hills is a good football team.  They have some big linemen and a fast QB and Running back. They are more of a running team but can and will throw.  Another week of defending a mobile QB will be another test for us.  Our run defense will be tested more than in the past two games. We will see what we are made of.

“Our focus this week is to create an offensive identity that we can rely on and build from.  We expect a good showing and want to come away with our first victory of the season.”