Prescott Head Football Coach Jordan Hansen and his charges lived up to their Top 10 billing on Friday with a 65-16 shellacking of the Durand-Arkansaw Panthers. Friday’s victory turned into a veritable cornucopia of big plays. A David Regnier blocked punt, a Cole Platson fumble scoop and score, a Kobe Russell circus catch for a touchdown, and a 71-yard run to paydirt by Andrew Lesso made the voices of hometown fans hoarse with an endless barrage of scoring. Prescott fans were wondering after the game or even pursuing old high yearbooks to see if Friday’s scoring barrage was record setting. Stay tuned. 

Look for Prescott and St. Croix Central to remain ranked in the top 10 this week and for the Somerset Spartans, who lost 34-28 in overtime to Northwestern last week, to drop out of the state rankings. 

This Friday the Cardinals travel to Altoona to take on the 2-0 Railroaders. Altoona blanked Black River Falls 28-0 last Friday and defeated Fall Creek in their opener by a score of 24-18. Kickoff in Altoona is scheduled for 7 p.m. Altoona plays on a turf field. 

In other games involving Middle Border Conference teams Somerset fell to Northwestern in overtime by a score of 36-28, Ellsworth bested La Crosse Central 27-14, Baldwin-Woodville pounded Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 55-0, St. Croix Central blanked Elk Mound 24-0, Amery defeated Unity 27-14, and Osceola was the only conference team to come out on the short end last week losing to Mondovi by a score of 46-28. 

The Prescott girls golf team won last Thursday's Middle Border Conference clash by a whopping 25 strokes. Five Cardinals finished in the top eight as Prescott won the meet going away. Senior Gabbi Matzek and sophomore Macy Reiter each shot 39 and finished second. Sophomore Layla Salay finished fourth, senior Lydia Feran finished sixth, and Jeanne Rohl finished eighth. The Cardinals are back in Middle Border Conference action this Thursday in Osceola. 

Both the Prescott girls and boys cross country teams finished fourth in the seven-team Prescott Invitational last Tuesday. Kyra Dix was the top runner for the Cardinals finishing fourth with a time of 22.32. It was the first varsity meet for the sophomore who Head Coach Tim Phillips called “a top 20 finish in the history of Prescott Cross Country.” For the boys Nolan Leask was the Cardinals’ top finisher. The final team results had the boys from Totino-Grace and girls from St. Croix Central taking home top honors. The Prescott Harriers are back in action this Thursday in the St. Croix Central Invitational. 

Check out these gaudy numbers after two football games. Senior quarterback Teddy Bernick has completed 75% of his passes and thrown for seven touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Will Packard has caught four of those touchdown passes and averages over 22 yards a catch. The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 107-24. 

Peter Brookshaw and the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks have clinched a playoff spot in the West Division of the American Association. Qualifying for the fourth consecutive season, the Redhawks open the postseason this week. 

A trio of Prescott Cardinal alumni will be in action for the UW-River Falls football team this weekend. Senior offensive lineman Austin Fox, junior linebacker Jack Olson, and sophomore Brady Block and their UW-River Falls teammates open the season this Saturday in Alma, Mich. to take on the Scots of Alma University. Ranked #7 in the NCAA Division 3 Preseason poll, the Scots finished 12-1 last season. River Falls enters their season opener ranked #17 and is expected to challenge for the WIAC title this season. 

Guard Isabella Lenz along with hundreds of others were recipients of the Academic Achievement Award from the Division 2 Athletics Directors Association for the 2023-24 academic year. The Academic Achievement Awards, in its 17th year, is a program that recognizes the academic accomplishments of student-athletes at the NCAA Division II level. Those recognized must have a GPA of 3.5 or higher along with other academic and athletic requirements. Lenz, a two-time all conference selection for the Huskies, begins her final season with the Huskies and is a 2021 graduate of Prescott High School. Lenz is poised to become the next 1,000 point scorer for the Huskies. Prescott girls’ basketball’s all-time leading scorer enters the 2024-25 season with 917 career points. Lenz also has a cumulative GPA of 4.0.

Headshaker of the Week: As the NFL season begins this week, fans will lap up pregame shows that begin six hours before kickoff and endless commentary related to all sorts of defensive, offensive, and special team visuals exposing the latest statistical analytics. 

And during the game, play by announcers and their color commentators espouse sports idioms and phrases throughout the three hours of play. However, nothing is more “entertaining” than the role of the sideline reporter. Head coaches are expected to answer all sorts of questions as they make their way to the locker room at half time trailing 28-0. “What can you do to get back into the game?” or “How do you feel about your team’s performance in the first half?” Or “What do you plan to do at halftime to turn the game around?” and “What went wrong in the first half?”

It goes on and on.  Sorry football “insider connoisseurs" sideline reporting, it’s a headshaker.