HS Football: Kelso Starts Fast, Fends Off Beat up Falcons Late in GSHL Win

9/30/22

Kelso 28, Prairie 20

(Kelso, WA) Both the Prairie Falcons and Kelso Hilanders were coming off of a loss but both of them played really good teams the previous week and had some good showings. Prairie was going to be without their starting running back Alex Ford for the game and Kelso was coming in with one of the best one-two punches at running back in the 3A classification. Kelso started fast and held off the Prairie comeback to win their GSHL 3A opener 28-20.

Kelso came out of the gates red hot forcing a three and out on Prairie’s opening possession. It was a heavy dose of Nevada commit Conner Noah on the Hilanders opening possession as they took the three- and four-yard gains to keep moving the chains. Kelso then set up a big plat perfectly. A sprint out pass had the Prairie defense lulled a little bit and quarterback Tucker Amrine dropped one over the top to a wide-open Zeke Smith for a 53-yard touchdown. Kelso quickly had a 7-0 lead.

It was another punt for Prairie that put Kelso back on the field and gave them solid field position. Kelso then broke out an option play and Amrine pitched it to Conner Noah and he was gone for another long touchdown of 51-yards. Two possessions in and Kelso led 14-0.

Prairie had a little drive going on their next possession but Kelso kept them off the scoreboard. The Hilanders then started using their other running back in Judah Calixte who is more of a bruising back while Noah is the quicker back but both can do whatever they need to to have success running the football. Calixte would join the touchdown party early in the second quarter with a 19-yard score to make it 21-0 Kelso.

The Falcons made a change at quarterback on their next drive to try to get the offense going. Isaac Watson took over under center and found Aiden Miller for a 25-yard strike to get the Falcons moving in the right direction. They also found some running success with Pierson Lameh and the offense was clicking a little bit. Watson would then find Nathan Phongphouvanh for a 30-yard touchdown on 4th and 2 to get Prairie on the board at 21-6 after a blocked PAT by Kelso’s Zeke Smith.

The Hilanders once again were rolling down the field and the offense looked unstoppable. That would be when Prairie would make a play. The Falcon defense forced a fumble and recovered for the first turnover of the ball game. While Prairie couldn’t score before halftime, they prevented Kelso from answering the score and we went into the break with Kelso leading 21-6.

It would be Kelso ball to start the second half and the offense hadn’t skipped a beat. Kelso marched the ball right down the field and after a successful 4th and long conversion they had the ball inside the 10-yard line. The Prairie defense would stand up however and stop Kelso at the 2-yard line twice to force a turnover on downs in a massive momentum shift in the ball game.

A holding penalty backed Prairie up to the one-yard line to start their drive. It would not matter. With Braeden Slamp back in at quarterback, the offense was rolling. Slamp looked like a totally different player with completions of 34 and 21 yards to Aiden Miller. When the Falcons got inside the 10-yard line, the Kelso defense stiffened up. However, a fade thrown by Slamp to Alex Juhl in the corner of the endzone was brought in for a 7-yard touchdown. Slamp would then scramble for his life before some how finding Miller for the two-point conversion and all of a sudden the Kelso lead was trimmed down to 21-14.

In a very important drive for the Hilanders, they went to their bread and butter in Conner Noah and Judah Calixte to ground and pound their way down the field in the 4th quarter. The duo continued to roll and that would set up Tucker Amrine once again. The sophomore quarterback once again was able to find Zeke Smith for a 15-yard touchdown to put Kelso back up by two scores 28-14.

Prairie of course would answer. The Falcons lost Limeh due to injury, but they had rediscovered Braden Slamp. Slamp was slinging the ball all over the field and would find a receiver for a 30-yard touchdown to cut it to 28-20. After a false start wiped away the PAT, Zeke Smith would block another extra point to keep the lead at eight for Kelso.

Prairie tried on onside kick but it would be recovered by Kelso. The Hilanders needed a couple first downs since Prairie had all three time outs. Calixte picked up the first one with a 32-yard run and Noah would get the next to ice the game away. Despite a phenomenal effort from Prairie, Kelso would hang on for a 28-20 win.

Our MVP of the game was Zeke Smith who hauled in two touchdowns on five catches for 138 yards. Smith also blocked two extra points in a complete performance for the senior. Conner Noah also had a great performance with 24 carries for 180 yards and a touchdown while Judah Calixte ran the ball 17 times for 115 yards and a touchdown. Tucker Amrine went 9/16 through the air for 139 yards and two touchdowns. The Kelso defensive line recorded five sacks with Payton Stewart recording two and Dominic Kemp, Jay Eubanks, and Judah Calixte all got one. For Prairie, Braeden Slamp went 8/15 for 137 yards and two touchdowns. Aiden Miller hauled in four catches for 94 yards while Alex Juhl had three catches for 36 yards and a touchdown. Pierson Lameh led the ground attack with seven carries for 35 yards. Isaac Watson played quarterback for the 2nd quarter and went 4/12 for 72 yards and a touchdown.

The win snaps a two-game losing streak for Kelso as they move to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in GSHL 3A play. The Hilanders will try to make it two in a row on Friday night at home at 7pm when they host Heritage. Prairie drops to 3-2 overall and 0-1 in GSHL 3A conference play. The Falcons will return home looking for their first league win when they host Mountain View on Friday at 7pm. You can watch Mountain View @ Prairie on Friday night right here on ESN.

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