There were times Friday night when the Cedar Falls football team seemed to forget that they were the No. 1 ranked team in the state. Tiger running back Barkley Hill never forgot that he is one of the best players in the state.

Bulldozing for 293 yards and five touchdowns, Hill lead Cedar Falls to a 41-28 victory over Prairie at John Wall Field, as Prairie put together a solid game against the state's best team.

“Hill had a big night running for us. We were able to gain control of the line of scrimmage with our line and we did a lot of good things,” said Cedar Falls co-Coach Pat Mitchell. “We also had some disappointing parts of the game with other parts of our team but we are going to work on them and try and get better.”

Prairie quarterback Jace Hanna and the Prairie offense didn’t let Cedar Falls’ reputation worry them as Hanna threw for 361 yards and two scores and the offense put up 28 points. The Cedar Falls defense had only allowed nine total points in the first two games of the season.

“I just think that Jace is getting confidence,” said Prairie Coach Mike Morrissey. “For the most part we protected him pretty well and when we had breakdowns he was able to move around and make things happen with his feet. He has really progressed and is as tough mentally as he is physically.”

Hanna also rushed for 56 yards.

Cedar Falls got the ball to start the game, and methodically marched 62 yards down the field, almost unmatched, as quarterback Ike Boettger connected with Brennan Block in the corner of the end zone. It looked like it was going to be a deflating score, as the near capacity crowd that packed John Wall Field readied themselves to witness a drubbing.

But Prairie had other plans. On its ensuing possession, Hanna came out firing, and hit his favorite target of the night Jarred Edmonds for a 19-yard gain on the first play. Three plays later the duo reconnected when Hanna threw a bullet to Edmonds in the seam and Edmonds ran 40 yards for the touchdown, tying the game 7-7.

Edmonds had eight catches for 163 yards.

Everybody settled in and watched as Prairie went head to head with the No. 1 ranked team.

“I thought they put in a good week of practice this week and coming in to a game like this as the known underdog there is a lot to prove,” said Morrissey. “They have a great football team over there, they are very tough on both sides of the football. We are just very proud of our team’s effort this week and we took another step forward.”

Prairie compiled an impressive scoring drive to begin the second half, with the help of a gutsy fake punt call with Prairie inside their own red zone, gaining 33 yards. The 13-play drive ticked six minutes off the clock and concluded with a 1-yard dive by Peyton Wagner, tying the score at 14.

“Prairie played very well,” said Mitchell.

After an unsuccessful surprise onside kick by Prairie, Cedar Falls got excellent field position on the 50-yard line. In a six play drive, Hill ran for 42 of those yards and capped it off with a six-yard dash to put Cedar Falls back on top.

Refusing to give up, Hanna led Prairie on a 82 yard drive, hitting Edmonds for a 16 yard score with :50 left in the third.

Late in the game, Hill and his Tiger mates proved to be too much. Hill ran for two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter and Cedar Falls solidified the victory.     

CEDAR FALLS 41, PRAIRIE 28

Prairie                                                Cedar Falls

First Downs                        21                                                     14
Rushes- Yards                 29-119                                                32-333
Passing                          26-29-1                                                9-10-0
Passing Yards                    361                                                     78
Punts-Ave                        1-45                                                   1-40
Penalties                         5-60                                                    6-45
Fumbles                           0                                                          0


Cedar Falls                14           0            7        20     -       41
Prairie                       7           0           14         7       -      28


CF- Block 11 pass from Boettger (Jake Fagersten kick)
P- Edmonds 40 pass from Hanna (Austin Reutzel kick)
CF- Hill 16 run (Fagersten kick)
P- Wagner 1 run (Reutzel kick)
CF- Hill 6 run (Fagersten kick)
P- Edmonds 16 pass from Hanna (Reutzel kick)
CF- Hill 1 run (Fagersten kick)
CF- Hill 14 run (Fagersten kick)
P- Wagner 1 run (Reutzel kick)
CF- Hill 1 run (kick failed)

Individual

Cedar Falls

Rushing- Hill 32-293, Boettger 2-18, Harrington 3-22

Passing- Boettger 9-10  78  1

Receiving- Harrington 3- 37, Block 2-23, Jake Gallu 3-14, Hill 1-3

Prairie

Rushing- Hanna 12-34, Edmonds 1-46, Witte 9-26, Wagner 4-12, Witters 1-1, Vandraska 3-1

Passing- Hanna 26-39 361 2

Receiving- Edmonds 8-163, Vandraska 6-67 Dellamuth 6-56, Witte 6-66, Vizzini 1-10