Big first quarter propels Kelso past Prairie, 52-18

BATTLE GROUND — Kelso overwhelmed Prairie with five touchdowns and two recovered onside kicks in the first quarter in a dominant 52-18 win in a 3A Greater St. Helens League football game on Saturday afternoon at District Stadium.

The Hilanders were on the front foot from the opening kick, which popped up short of a Prairie returner and was recovered by Kelso at the Falcons 22-yard line.

Kelso scored a touchdown five short plays later and went on to score touchdowns on its first five possessions.

“I thought they played inspired,” Kelso coach Steve Amrine said. “We matched and exceeded their physicality, which I was concerned about coming into the game”

The Hilanders led 35-6 after the first quarter, helped by a second onside kick recovery and a double pass for a 51-yard touchdown. Kelso gained 202 yards in the first quarter alone.

“It snowballed and we got some breaks and we took advantage of the breaks,” Amrine said.

Prairie looked like it would be able to stay with the Hilanders early, with running back Dustin Shelby scoring on a 65-yard touchdown run on the Falcons second play from scrimmage.

However, the Falcons only had the ball on offense for 12 plays in the first quarter and by the time they scored their second touchdown – a 7-yard pass from Brandon Baum to Ian Davis just before halftime – they trailed 42-12.

Falcons freshman quarterback Braeden Slamp added a spark late, rushing for 23 yards and passing for 27 against the Kelso second unit, capping the scoring with a 7-yard run with less than a minute on the clock.

Hunter Letteer led Kelso with 152 yards passing and 51 yards rushing, combining for three touchdowns. Colby Cooper had 73 yards receiving and a touchdown pass for the Hilanders and Judah Calixte added a pair of rushing touchdowns.

Dustin Shelby led Prairie with 81 yards rushing and Baum passed for 105 yards. Davis finished with a game-high seven catches for 74 yards.

KELSO 52, PRAIRIE 18

Kelso 35 7 10 0—52

Prairie 6 6 0 6—18

First quarter

K — Conner Noah 6 run (Mason Smith kick)

P — Dustin Shelby 65 run (run failed)

K — Zeke Smith 49 pass from Hunter Letteer (Smith kick)

K — Letteer 7 run (Smith kick)

K — Tegan Connors 51 pass from Colby Cooper (Smith kick)

K — Judah Calixte 3 run (Smith kick)

Second quarter

K — Letteer 1 run (Smith kick)

P — Ian Davis 7 pass from Brandon Baum (pass failed)

Third quarter

K — Smith 35 FG

K — Calixte 2 run (Smith kick)

Fourth quarter

P — Braeden Slamp 7 run (pass failed)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Kelso, Hunter Letteer 12-51, Kyle Spaulding 3-34, Conner Noah 9-31, Judah Calixte 4-23, Chase Dillehay 2-5, Krister Russell-Embree 1-(minus-1). Prairie, Dustin Shelby 13-81, Brandon Baum 7-54, Alexander Ford 2-34, Braeden Slamp 4-23.

PASSING — Kelso, Hunter Letteer 8-15-0-152, Colby Cooper 1-1-0-51. Prairie, Brandon Baum 9-22-0-105, Braeden Slamp 2-2-0-27.

RECEIVING — Kelso, Colby Cooper 4-73, Zeke Smith 2-62, Tegan Connors 1-51, Jaden Kay 2-17. Prairie, Ian Davis 7-74, Dustin Shelby 2-49, Chase Phillips 1-6, Joseph Garrett 1-3.