Prairie High School Head Coach Mike Peck talks to the team during a preseason practice.
Nolan Mickenham and Zackery Brown connected on the biggest play of the season for the Prairie High School football team Friday at Battle Ground District Stadium.
Coming off four losses in a row and trailing by four points with less than four minutes left in the game, Mickenham caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Brown and the Falcons soared to a 23-21 victory against the Hudson’s Bay Eagles.
“It was pretty awesome. Walk off touchdown,” Mickenham said. “It means everything because now we have a chance to go 5-4 and get to the playoffs.”
Prairie led 14-7 at halftime, but faced some adversity when starting quarterback A.J. Dixson was unable to return for the second half due to an ankle injury. Brown came in and helped the Falcons score a touchdown and a field goal, but Hudson’s Bay countered with two touchdowns to give the Eagles a 21-17 advantage in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
Prairie head coach Mike Peck had a conversation with Mickenham before the Falcons made their final drive.
“I told him, ‘We’re going to get you in that situation and you’re going to go make a play.’ He said, ‘Yes coach.’” Peck recalled. “We were starting to put that drive together, had a big fourth down conversion and we called the play we were waiting for.”
That big catch on fourth down was made by Taylor Lawhead. He had already broken a 14-14 tie for the Falcons on the field goal before the Eagles regained the lead with a touchdown.
Moments later, Mickenham got away from his defender and into the open field. Brown hit him with a pass on the way to the end zone which sent the Prairie fans into a frenzy.
“It was a big time player making a big time play,” Peck said. “That’s what seniors do.”
There is now a three-way tie for third place in the 3A Greater St. Helens League between Evergreen, Hudson’s Bay and Prairie. The Falcons (3-4) host Fort Vancouver (0-7) next. If Evergreen and Prairie win Friday, they face each other for the final playoff berth at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 26 at McKenzie Stadium.
“The kids are ready to get back to work. Right now, I’m going to let them enjoy this win because it’s been a month,” Peck said.
“A lot of people were wondering what happened? We won our first two games and then lost four in a row. The big picture is, we played three teams who were undefeated and they were all ranked in the top 10 at state,” he added. “The whole time, our kids believed. I truly feel we have the culture in place to be a program that is going to make the Prairie community proud.”
The Falcons made their community proud Friday. It was breast cancer awareness night and all you could see in the bleachers was a flock of pink.
“The stands were packed and the fans were rowdy. They were in it from the first snap to the last,” Peck said. “Our kids feed off that.”
