(Lowell, IN) - New Prairie punched their ticket to the sectional finals Friday night with a 42-6 victory on the road at Lowell. As if the Cougars were in a hurry to get home, it was a game decided early; all the points were scored before halftime.

 

After turning away Lowell in four plays on the opening drive, New Prairie went to work. On their first play from scrimmage, junior quarterback Marshall Kmiecik connected with junior Reece Lapczynski on a 57-yard pass for a touchdown.

 

New Prairie’s jets cooled in the second quarter following a rash of penalties. But on a second-and-36, Kmiecik revved the engines with a 62-yard bomb to senior Dallas Ryans.

 

Kmiecik threw five touchdown passes to four different receivers. Senior Noah Mungia responded to Lowell’s only score by returning the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for the other Cougar touchdown. The Cougars’ game plan was spot-on against a Lowell defense that was only giving up 18 points per game coming into the contest.

 

New Prairie’s defense feasted on ball carriers all night. Sophomore safety Hayden Scott led the team with ten tackles. In all, seventeen different Cougars made the stat sheet with at least one takedown. Senior Tayvion Ortman added a block of Lowell’s only extra point attempt, in addition to eight tackles of his own.

 

The Cougars will face Hobart next week for the sectional championship.