Red Devils’ third quarter surge makes the difference
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Prague’s Trip Davis grabs an interception in the second half to stop a Stroud drive. Photo/Brian Blansett
It was an incredible four minutes that turned the course of the game.
With a little more than seven minutes left in the third quarter, the Prague Red Devils trailed Stroud, 20-8, and looked like they were ready for a standing eight count.
Stroud had had its way with the Red Devils, dominating the game and looking ready to get its first win of the season.
But, man. Over those next four minutes, the Red Devils racked up more than 40 percent of their total yards for the night, got long scoring runs from Tyler Carpenter on two consecutive snaps and grabbed a 28-20 lead that they never relinquished.
From then on, the game was mostly Prague’s, with the Red Devils winning, 46-26.
“We weren’t ready to play the first half,” said Prague coach Mike Hedge. “The kids were flat. We were standing around, not playing downhill, not staying pads on
“It was the worst half of football we’ve played in two years.
“At halftime, our adjustments were easy, but we just didn’t play good football in the first half. No excuse for that.”
Quarterback Trip Davis started Prague’s fourminute spurt with a 7-yard scoring run.
Following a Stroud punt on its next possession, Carpenter ran 42 yards for a touchdown, tying the game, then followed it with a 99-yard scoring run on Prague’s next possession.
“99 yards and he took the handoff five yards deep. The kid’s fast,” Hedge said.
“I was going to give it to him the next time, but I thought we’d run that triple one time, and then we fumbled. We should have given it to him again.”
For Stroud, playing up a class against a likely playoff team for the third straight week, the loss was difficult.
Their Class 2A opponents of Meeker, Chandler and Stroud are a combined 8-1 through the first three weeks and comprise one of the most difficult non-district schedules in the state.
“Obviously, things fell apart in the second half,” coach Josh Presley said.
“We’ll have to cotinue to grow and get better.
“I was proud of our kids, the way we played in the first half.
“We’ve seen three good teams so far and we faced adversity. The kids have responded.
“We played well in the first half. If we play like that, we’ll be ok.”
Prague finished it’s nondistrict schedule at 3-0 and has a week off before hosting Millwood and then Meeker in district play.
Stroud also has a week off before starting district play with a Homecoming match against Savanna, then going on the road to Liberty.