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The Blake Riojas-led Newcastle Racers were too big a speed bump for Prague, and the Red Devils fell out of contention for the Class 3A gold ball with a 35-7 loss Friday night in the first round of the playoffs.
Riojas, a senior, scored three rushing touchdowns and accumulated almost 200 rushing yards on the night. His first run for pay dirt was a 62-yard scamper on the hosts’ very first play from scrimmage.
The loss ends Prague’s season — the Red Devils’ first 3A run in several years — at 4-7. As a 2A competitor in 2009, Prague went 5-6 with a first-round playoff loss to Stigler.
After the Racers’ initial 7-0 lead, the Devils tied the score with 7:27 left in the first quarter on sophomore Daelen McClendon’s cross-country trek.
A Newcastle three-and-out gave way to the Red Devils facing a first-and-10 at their own 2-yard line. After taking a handoff from quarterback Tyler Duncan, McClendon appeared to be corralled in the backfield before bouncing off a handful of would-be tacklers to sprint for a 98-yard touchdown. Baruck Strickland tacked on the point-after kick to knot the score at 7, but from there it was all Racers.
A 40-yard scoring toss from Blake Woodward to Jimmy McDade at the 3:11 mark gave Newcastle some breathing room and a 14-7 halftime lead, and the hosts poured in three more scores in the third quarter to put the first-round contest to bed. Riojas scored back-to-back rushing touchdowns of 35 and 11 yards, and Bo Adams’s juggling catch of a Woodward pass turned into a 55-yard success to punctuate the third-quarter flurry.
A chance for a second Prague score was stymied in the fourth quarter when Duncan’s pass to Damon Palmer was picked off in the end zone by Kevin Shoebinger and returned to the Newcastle 47.
Duncan, with a 3-for-12 effort, came away with 57 passing yards — all in the second half. He was pilfered three times.
Woodward finished with five completions for 120 yards and the two scores, and the Racers ended the night with more than 300 total yards of offense. Prague was held to 251 total yards, including 194 on the ground.
McClendon provided the bulk of the Red Devils’ 167 first-half rushing yards, and Prague managed just 27 rushing yards down the stretch.
McClendon ended the night with just over 170 rushing yards, including 141 in the first two quarters.
Prague bids farewell to senior players Duncan, Trevor Watts, Mikey Hutchens, Kenneth White, Matt Dougherty, Blake Hill, Thomas Keneda, Rocky Dagy and Derek Sedlacek.
The Blake Riojas-led Newcastle Racers were too big a speed bump for Prague, and the Red Devils fell out of contention for the Class 3A gold ball with a 35-7 loss Friday night in the first round of the playoffs.
Riojas, a senior, scored three rushing touchdowns and accumulated almost 200 rushing yards on the night. His first run for pay dirt was a 62-yard scamper on the hosts’ very first play from scrimmage.
The loss ends Prague’s season — the Red Devils’ first 3A run in several years — at 4-7. As a 2A competitor in 2009, Prague went 5-6 with a first-round playoff loss to Stigler.
After the Racers’ initial 7-0 lead, the Devils tied the score with 7:27 left in the first quarter on sophomore Daelen McClendon’s cross-country trek.
A Newcastle three-and-out gave way to the Red Devils facing a first-and-10 at their own 2-yard line. After taking a handoff from quarterback Tyler Duncan, McClendon appeared to be corralled in the backfield before bouncing off a handful of would-be tacklers to sprint for a 98-yard touchdown. Baruck Strickland tacked on the point-after kick to knot the score at 7, but from there it was all Racers.
A 40-yard scoring toss from Blake Woodward to Jimmy McDade at the 3:11 mark gave Newcastle some breathing room and a 14-7 halftime lead, and the hosts poured in three more scores in the third quarter to put the first-round contest to bed. Riojas scored back-to-back rushing touchdowns of 35 and 11 yards, and Bo Adams’s juggling catch of a Woodward pass turned into a 55-yard success to punctuate the third-quarter flurry.
A chance for a second Prague score was stymied in the fourth quarter when Duncan’s pass to Damon Palmer was picked off in the end zone by Kevin Shoebinger and returned to the Newcastle 47.
Duncan, with a 3-for-12 effort, came away with 57 passing yards — all in the second half. He was pilfered three times.
Woodward finished with five completions for 120 yards and the two scores, and the Racers ended the night with more than 300 total yards of offense. Prague was held to 251 total yards, including 194 on the ground.
McClendon provided the bulk of the Red Devils’ 167 first-half rushing yards, and Prague managed just 27 rushing yards down the stretch.
McClendon ended the night with just over 170 rushing yards, including 141 in the first two quarters.
Prague bids farewell to senior players Duncan, Trevor Watts, Mikey Hutchens, Kenneth White, Matt Dougherty, Blake Hill, Thomas Keneda, Rocky Dagy and Derek Sedlacek.
