It took only a minute for the Curley Wolves to get on the scoreboard when Pierce Yates found Jaylen Johnson for a 55-yard TD, as the Wolves would jump out to an early 7-0 lead. The Prescott defense would get in on the scoring action in the opening quarter as DeCari Prater would return his first of two interceptions for a touchdown to give the Wolves a 14-0 lead after the John Rabadan extra point.
The Bismarck offense did not have an answer for the front seven of the Prescott defense as the Lions quarterback was running for his life most of the night and the running game was pretty much shut down. The Bismarck defense would make a play with eight minutes left in the second quarter as they scored on a pick-six to cut the Prescott lead in half to 14-7.
On the following possession, the Curley Wolves would get going offensively as they marched down the field with Yates finding PJ Gulley for a 22-yard TD to extend the Prescott lead to 21-7. DeCari Prater would find the endzone for the second time with one-minute remaining in the first half on a 37-yard touchdown scamper as the Wolves would head into halftime with a 28-7 lead.
Prescott would dial up a perfectly executed onside kick by Rabadan to steal a possession from the Lions. Yates found D’Wayne White on a deep ball to set up a first down on the Bismarck 13-yard line. Harris would run in a touchdown from eight yards out two plays later to make the score 35-7.
The defense was money all game long as the front four of Jamarion Burton, Rasheed Muhammed, Rocco Patrick, and Marshawn Rafter continued to get after the quarterback and make it impossible for the Lions offense to get any kind of momentum going.
With six minutes remaining in the third quarter, Pierce Yates would find D’Wayne White for a 10-yard pitch and catch for a touchdown to put the game out of reach with a 42-7 lead. The Curley Wolves would finish the game with a 42-13 victory.
SWARK reporter Caytlee Poole spoke with Coach Brian Glass after the win, “The defense played great; the offense was explosive, special teams made plays. I loved the physicality we played with tonight.”
Pierce Yates would finish with 219 yards passing and 3 TDs. Jah’Noah Harris had a great night out of the backfield with 194 yards and a TD on 19 carries. D’Wayne White would have 55 yards receiving and a TD, PJ Gulley had 59 total yards on offense and a TD, and Jaylen Johnson scored on a 55-yard TD.
DeCari Prater had a heck of a game for the Curley Wolves as he scored on both sides of the ball with a pick-six and a 37-yard TD run. Prater would finish with 2 INTs on defense and a huge hit in the first half, and offensively he had 107 total yards (57 receiving, 50 rushing) and a TD. John Rabadan was 6/6 on PATs.
Once again, the Curley Wolves defense completely dominated the game. The D-Line played lights out. Linebackers Talan Smith, Tayshawn Smith, and KJ Page were great, and the secondary made play after play as they forced 2 INTs.
For the second week in a row the Mansfield Tigers hit the road and upset their opponent as they beat Hoxie 14-13 last week and won against Salem Friday night 26-22. Mansfield's string of wins necessitates another home game for the Curley Wolves as they host a red-hot Tigers team this coming Friday.
Kick-off is set for 7:00 p.m. for the semifinal matchup, with the winner earning a spot in the 3A State Championship game.
