Prairie beats Hockinson in record fashion

HOCKINSON — Jesse Zalk seemed to be everywhere Friday for the Prairie football team.

So it’s no wonder that when a teammate picked off a pass late in the Falcons’ 55-7 win over Hockinson, Zalk was incorrectly credited with the interception from the public address announcer.

When it doubt, give it to Zalk.

“We just need to get him his CDL (commercial drivers license) and he could drive the team bus,” Prairie coach Terry Hyde said of Zalk. “He’s a dynamic player.”

Zalk rushed for 78 yards on eight carries, caught four passes for 97 yards (including a 63-yard TD reception), intercepted two passes on defense, punted three times for 120 yards, and had six returns for 70 yards on special teams.

“Yeah, I get tired by the end of the game,” Zalk said. “But I hate being on the sideline, so I’ll do whatever the coaches ask me to do.”

Luckily, Zalk got plenty of help from his teammates.

Quarterback Colin Seitz completed 18 of 28 passes for 285 yards and six touchdowns. And Ansel Cecil caught five passes for 104 yards and three touchdowns as the Falcons led 28-0 after the first quarter and 41-0 at halftime.

“But the real credit goes to our defensive line,” Hyde said. “They really controlled the line of scrimmage.”

Prairie held Hockinson to 30 yards of total offense for the first 22 minutes of the first half. Hockinson finished with 217 yards of offense, but 74 came on the final drive of the first half that ended with no points. Another 50 yards came on Zackery McElveny’s fourth-quarter touchdown.

Zalk said Friday’s effort will give the Falcons confidence after a narrow defeat to Lakewood last week to open the season.

“Last week, we came out a little flat,” the senior said. “We were sort of playing like individuals. Tonight, we played like a team. It was a team effort.”

The 48-point margin of victory was the largest in Prairie school history, and the 55 points tied a school record set against Fort Vancouver in 2007.

“We weren’t all that unhappy with how we played last week,” Hyde said. “Lakewood is a good team that is going to make it deep into the playoffs this year. We felt like we were a couple of mistakes away from winning that game. But it’s nice to get that first win heading into league next week.”

Prairie opens league play against Mountain View next Friday.

Prairie 28 13 0 14—55

Hockinson 0 0 0 7— 7

First quarter

P — Ansel Cecil 3 pass from Colin Seitz (Max Reimer kick)

P — Preston Brooks 10 blocked punt return (Reimer kick)

P — Cecil 62 pass from Seitz (Reimer kick)

P — Jesse Zalk 63 pass from Seitz (Reimer kick)

Second quarter

P — David Taylor 8 pass from Seitz (Reimer kick)

P — Tyler Vea 6 pass from Seitz (run failed)

Fourth quarter

P — Cecil 8 pass from Seitz (Reimer kick)

H — Zackery McElveny 50 run (Everett Klodt kick)

P — Tyler Duncan 5 run (Reimer kick)

Individual statistics

Rushing — Prairie — Jesse Zalk 8-78, Vea 3-27, Peter Zalk 1-17, Brooks 1-15, Colton Prestwich 5-11, Duncan 8-8; Nick Gawley 1-2; Hockinson — Josiah Niemela 8-62, Justin Anderson 4-17, McElveny 3-43, Nick Barclay 1-8, Thomas Kirschenbaum 2-6, Tory Dunn 1-1, Jess Krahn 6-(-11).

Passing — Prairie — Seitz 18-28-0-285, Brooks 1-1-0-12; Hockinson — Krahn 9-16-0-91, Anderson 1-6-3-0.

Receiving — Prairie— Cecil 5-104, Jesse Zalk 4-97, Taylor 5-51, Vea 3-32, Jason Bracken 1-12, Prestwich 1-1; Home — Beau Sparks 3-28, Cole Kirkpatrick 2-37, Ryan Holland 1-18, McElveny 2-4, Doug Macdonald 1-4, Barclay 1-0.