(New Carlisle, IN) - Prior to the start of the season, New Prairie football coaches earmarked the third game as one of key importance. In fact, they revived an old Cougar tradition to drive home the point. Friday’s matchup against Lowell was dubbed the “Bone Game.” Earlier in the week, a huge animal bone was chained to a cougar statue behind the east end zone. As head coach Casey McKim explained, “It’s one of those things that signifies a critical moment in our season. We pick a game, usually one out of conference, one that we feel like is a pivotal game. If we win, they get to keep it, if we don’t win, it stays locked up.”
Lowell was just coming off a big win against La Porte, the team that broke New Prairie’s heart in week one. Having lost the Milk Jug, could the Cougars bounce back to unlock the bone?
New Prairie wasted no time answering that question. Sophomore Reed Robinson took the opening kickoff 46 yards. Two plays later, senior quarterback Marshall Kmiecik hit sophomore Reece Lapczynski for a 38-yard touchdown pass. A two-point conversion by Robinson made it 8-0. The celebrating was brief, as Lowell returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a score. But it was the only highlight of the night for the Red Devils. The Cougars went on to add 39 unanswered points.
On New Prairie’s next possession, a 45-yard Kmiecik run set up another touchdown two plays later by senior Brock Sinka. Lowell broke loose again on the following kickoff return, but a New Prairie defender poked the ball loose, and the Cougars recovered. They would score two more touchdowns before the end of the first quarter.
By halftime, New Prairie led 47-6. With the JV playing most of the second half, that’s where the score stayed.
New Prairie’s offense returned to previous form with senior quarterback Marshall Kmiecik throwing five touchdown passes. Senior Reece Lapczynski caught three of them. The other two were to Kmiecik’ brother Beau. Six New Prairie players contributed to a balanced running attack, sharing 228 rushing yards. Senior Brock Sinka and junior Zak Henrich each ran for a touchdown. Junior Hayden Scott led the Cougar defense with 12 tackles.
Following the game, McKim reflected on his team’s steady recovery from their letdown against La Porte. “Week one ripped our heart out,” he said. “It was really difficult. Took a lot of soul-searching on the coaching staff, the players, pretty much top to bottom you have to reevaluate everything.”
McKim said the offense is starting to gel after some consistent practices. “This week I really loved our practice,” he said. “No matter what happened out here, going into the game, I just felt like this was week that we got better. We need to string some weeks together like that to make some big improvements.”
McKim gathered his team behind the east end zone after the victory and unchained the bone trophy, presenting it to the seniors. They have the privilege of carrying it around school as the season progresses. A tradition revitalized, a season back on track. New Prairie will host Mishawka Marian this Friday.
