Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

PHS Penalized For 95 Yards In Win

Prescott quarterback Al Johnston passed for three touchdowns and scored one himself last Friday as the Curley Wolves introduced the Bismarck Lions to the 7AA Conference.

The Wolves scored five touchdowns as they shut out the Lions, 32-0. The win improved Prescott's record to 4-0. This time last year the Wolves were 3-0-1 with the only blemish being a tie with Hope.

Coming out of Class A, it was expected the Curley Wolves were favored over Bismarck. The Lions would not be a laughing stock, however, as they compiled just as many yards offensively as Prescott Class AAA opponents.

Prescott's defense was too strong for the Lions and were successfull each drive at stopping Bismarck before they could score.

The Lions neither had the depth nor the number of experienced players as Prescott, but they had determination. They made some outstanding plays defensively, but the Curley Wolves kept coming at them, first one way then another, executing their plays well.

As usual, when Prescott wins the coin toss, the Wolves elect to kick off first. They gave the Lions the opportunity to score first Friday, but after five plays they had to punt. Prescott began its first scoring drive on their 25-yard line.

Sam Marlow opened the drive with a one-yard gain. Carlos Vanhook picked up seven more then two more on the third try for the first down.

Marlow was stopped for no gain on the next series, but went around the left side on a sweep for 50 yards before he was stopped at the Bismarck 15.

Vanhook managed two yards, and Heath Duke got two more at the 11 before Johnston connected with Cedric Flemons in the end zone for the first TD.

The point after try by Mike Fountain was good and Prescott led, 7- 0 with 5:50 left in the quarter.

Bismarck came out with vengeance. Beginning on their own 27-yard line, quarterback J.R. Shultz went into the shotgun formation. He hit John Brawley on the sidelines who connected with Albert Cimino for a 39-yard gainer at the Prescott 34.

They didn't stop there. On the next play, Cimino got another first down at the 16.

Had it not been for a penalty on the next play things may have been different. However, Bismarck was set back with a 10-yard holding penalty. Then Shultz got careless. Instead of hitting Cimino, Prescott's Channing Butler intercepted the pass. He was downed at the Prescott 15.

On fourth and one coach Eddie Jackson punted the ball back to Bismarck, and on fourth and 11 the Lions punted back to Prescott with the Wolves beginning their next scoring drive at their 44.

Marlow gained four yards on the ground, then a Johnston pass was knocked down. Johnston tried another pass for Rashad Johnson whose feet got tangled with a defensive player. Bismarck got a 15-yard penalty and Prescott got the first down at the Lions' 38.

This time the pass from Johnston to Johnson was successful for a 17- yard pick up and a first down.

A holding penalty against the Wolves moved the ball back 10 yards as the quarter ended.

This time Johnston hit Johnson with a sideline pass. Johnson ran to the 22 before he was stopped. Johnston then pitched back to Tracy Stafford, who was stopped short of a TD by one yard.

From the one Vanhook pushed his way up the middle for a touchdown.

Once more the kick by Fountain after the TD was good and Prescott led 14-0 with 10:53 left in the half.

Prescott's kick-off team did an excellent job Friday night, and they had plenty of practice. Terrell Burton's longest kick was into the end zone, bringing the ball out to the 20 for the Lions.

Prescott's defense stopped the Lions once more, but the quarter was one of errors as far as the Wolves were concerned. Four times they were penalized for a total of 45 yards.

It was just as bad in the third quarter, perhaps the longest high school third period Prescott has ever played. In that quarter, the Wolves were penalized four times for 40 yards and Bismarck was penalized for 5.

For the game Prescott had nine penalties, losing 95 yards. Bismarck was penalized a total of three times for 30 yards.

Prescott began the third after the Bismarck kick-off was grounded at the 27.

On first down Vanhook was stopped for no gain, then Johnston kept the ball for a gain of 14 yards at the 41.

Marlow picked up seven more on the next play, then Vanhook got two tries, getting three on the first and four on the second for the first down at the Bismarck 45.

A delay on the next play netted five yards for Marlow, getting the ball to the 40. Johnston then hit Johnson near the 20-yard line, and he was on his way for Prescott's third TD.

This time Fountain's PAT missed, but Prescott led, 20-0.

Shultz again worked the option plays well, getting a first down before finally having to punt at mid-field. Shultz shanked the ball and it went out of bounds at the Prescott 47.

Stafford picked up four on first down, then a five-yard penalty moved the ball back to their 46. A pass for Butler then fell incomplete.

Johnston went into shotgun formation (something Bismarck did regularly). His pass to Cedric Flemons was on target. Flemons was finally taken out of bounds at the Bismarck 28. Injured, he left the game for a few plays.

Vanhook managed to get to the 25, then Johnton lost six yards as he was sacked. From the shotgun position, he attempted to hit Johnson in the end zone; the pass was nearly intercepted. Not to be to be out-done, he again went for Johnson from the shotgun formation. This time the pass was tipped by defender Darryl Fendley, but Johnson took the tipped ball for the TD.

Again, Fountain's kick missed, but the score was 26-0 in favor of the Wolves with 4:04 remaining in the third quarter.

Thanks to a Prescott penalty, the Lions made a first down, then they made another on their own before Rashad Johnson intercepted a pass near mid-field and ran it back for a TD. But, alas, the Wolves had clipped, so the ball came back out and the Curley Wolves started at the Bismarck 48.

But not to worry, the Wolves were warmed up now.

Vanhook took the ball from Johnston and went down the middle. Before the run was finished, he had broken several tackles and managed to get to the two before he was stopped.

From there Johnston went up the middle on a keeper for the fifth TD.

The snap was bad for no kick, but Prescott was leading 32-0 with still 2:44 left in the third.

The third quarter finally came to an end and the fourth was relatively short in spite of a long delay with an injury to a Bismarck player.

During the third period Bismarck's Shultz threw seven incomplete passes, which stopped the clock. There were five penalties, which stopped the clock, and there were six exchanges, which stopped the clock.