The Prescott Cardinals were defeated by the Saint Croix Central Panthers by a score of 42-13 in Prescott’s home opener Friday night.

The game started well for the Cardinals as they forced a fumble on the Panthers’ opening drive taking over on their own 47. Prescott immediately turned to their youngest playmaker, sophomore wide receiver Kobe Russell, who would function in a hybrid role all night as he carried the ball down to the 36-yard line for a 17-yard run.

The Cardinals’ offense stalled there though as the Panthers forced a punt on 4^th and 11, then took over from their own 8-yard line with 9:00 remaining in the first. Saint Croix Central (SCC) worked their way out to the 28-yard line and were sitting at 1st and 15 when they got a 20-yard completion downfield. They scored on the very next play connecting on a 72-yard touchdown pass due to broken coverage in the secondary.

Prescott took over from their own 20-yard line with 6:28 remaining in the quarter. A quick pass from quarterback Theodore Bernick allowed Russell to showcase his speed as he turned the corner and hustled 41 yards up the sideline. With the offense humming, running back Barrett Temmers muscled his way to a 28-yard run setting up the Cardinals with a 1^st and 10 on the SCC 21-yard line.

The drive came to close two plays later as wide receiver Will Packard caught a 23-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 7 with under 5:00 remaining in the first.

As the quarter came to a close, the Cardinals’ defense looked like they might get the stop on 3^rd and 15 on the Panthers’ 33-yard line. Unfortunately, a 22-yard pass dashed those hopes, and SCC proceeded to pound the run game until time expired, which set up a 2^nd and 8 from the Prescott 18 as quarter 2 began.

The Panthers continued in this vein running the ball three times in a row and pushing it into the endzone to take a 14-7 lead. This drive set the tone for the rest of the game.

Prescott got the ball back with decent field position, and Temmers took the Cardinals out to midfield on the back of a couple strong runs. That’s where the drive ended. A missed deep ball for wide receiver Nolan Thomley and a pass that went through Packard’s hands turned a 1^st and 10 into a 3^rd and 5 and an eventual turnover on downs.

Thus, with 7:15 left in the half, SCC took over at midfield. The Panthers slowly ran it down the field, but a timely chop block penalty derailed their hopes as they were pushed back to the 40 and were forced to punt it away with 4:15 remaining.

The Cardinals couldn’t do anything with it though, as they started with very poor field position, went three and out and had to punt with 2:35 remaining. Even that went sideways for Prescott as the Panthers blocked the punt and took over from the Prescott 15-yard line. Several rushing plays later it was 21-7, and that ended the scoring for the half.

The home team got the ball to start the second half, but the Cardinals went three and out and punted it away. The Panthers took over on their own 44-yard line and proceeded to run the ball six times in a row, carrying the rock all the way to a 1^st and 10 from the 16-yard line. Surprisingly, SCC went to the air and completed a touchdown pass into the left corner of the endzone bringing the score to 28-7 with 5:57 left in the third.

Things didn’t get any better for the Cards as only 45 seconds passed before they were punting it away again. This marked the first of three consecutive punts that took the game to the end of the quarter.

The fourth quarter began with the Panthers in possession. A few runs and a Prescott penalty later and they were right back on the Cardinals’ doorstep. With 11:09 to go in the game, SCC ran it in on 3^rd and 5 to make it a 35-7 ballgame.

Prescott got the ball back but punted it away 1:15 later. SCC proceed to eat away at the clock taking 5:00 to slowly march downfield and score to make it 42-7, their fifth rushing touchdown of the night.

Running back Brody Temmers saved your high school fantasy football day on Prescott’s last drive, as he broke off a 57-yard run and capped off the drive by pushing it in from the 5-yard line on the next play. The extra point was no good and the game ended 42-13.

Russell was the player of the game in this one for the Cardinals as he led the team in all-purpose yards with seven rushes for 32 yards, one reception for 41 yards as well as handling punt and kick return duties. Prescott has even started using him in the Wildcat formation, which is where the center hikes the ball directly to a position player who is not the quarterback.

Head Coach Jordan Hansen said this is the coaching staff recognizing what a talented player they have in the sophomore.

“When you have a tremendous athlete like Kobe, you’ve got to find ways to get him the ball, and that’s what we're trying to do,” Hansen said. “We're just trying to find different ways to be creative in the game and get some yards, and we thought maybe put him back there and let him try to make some plays with his legs.”

Russell explained that this isn’t his first time taking snaps.

“I played quarterback last year on JV a lot, so I feel comfortable there, and we worked on it in the offseason. It's easier to get the ball back there, like if I can just take the snap and get the ball right away,” Russell said. “What I do depends on the play. I can pass out of it, or I can also step back and wait and then go. So, I'll snap, wait for it, like set up the run, and then go.”

With Prescott’s diverse set of weapons and explosive offense, Hansen knows their hopes for a conference championship and post season success are still alive. However, this was the second loss in a row for the Cardinals, they’ve now crossed the midpoint of the season, and their schedule doesn’t get any easier either. In their final four games of the regular season, Prescott (3-2) plays at Amery (2-3), home against Baldwin-Woodville (4-1), at Ellsworth (3-2) and home against Rice Lake (4-1).

“We just got to figure out a way to be more stout up front on defense, be able to stop the run, and tackle better,” Hansen said. “But a lot of it comes down to just getting off the field on defense because when we wear down our tackling’s not as good. We’ve just got to find ways to be better on first and second down and put them in third and longs, and we'll go from there.”

The Cardinals will look to get the W and avoid a third straight loss when they travel to Amery this week to play the Warriors. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. on Friday night.