Prairie Lea falls, but future bright for Indians

LPR staff

LEAKEY – Prairie Lea saw its season end at Leakey Friday night and the Indians came up just shy of qualifying for the 6-Man football playoffs. Nevertheless, Indians’ Head Coach Steven Brown is excited about the future of his program.

The 60-13 loss at Leakey ended Prairie Lea’s season at 3-6 overall, 1-3 in District 16.

“We were playing really good until Joe Zapata went down with an injury in the second quarter,” Brown said. “We were hanging in there, only down 12-7.”

Edwin Canepa recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown for Prairie Lea. Jimmy Saberones ran in the extra point for the Indians.

It was Canepa’s third such fumble recovery for a score in the last three games.

At the end of first quarter, Leakey only led 12-7. 

Zapata was taken to the hospital in the second period, although Brown said his junior is “fine now.”

“Leakey figured out how to stop him by putting him in the hospital,” Brown said.

Prairie Lea’s other score was on a 35-yard touchdown run by Saberones in the second quarter. 

The Indians also won three games in 2021, but it had no district victories that season. Prairie Lea averaged 34 points a game, while allowing 43 per outing. “That was definitely a bright spot,” Brown said.

“We are losing just one player, Bryant Garcia, from this year‘s team. I think we will have as many as 25 players next year. We were all juniors, freshmen, and only two or three sophomores this year. We should have about seven 8th graders moving up next year.”

Prairie Lea’s Middle School squad finished 2-2, beating Leakey last week, 40–35. The young Indians also beat Medina, and its two losses were close games. 

Saberones finished with 14 carries for 101 yards. Canepa had five carries for 50 yards. Lane Fiscus had 10 carries for 17 yards and Zapota two runs for 10 yards before being injured. 

Defensively for the Indians, Canapa had nine tackles, followed by Saberones with six, Fiscus five, and Gabriel Garcia three.

“I’m looking forward to the off-season,” Brown said. “All of our football players are playing basketball, so that should keep their strength up. We will hit the off-season around mid-March.”

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District 16 (6-Man) Standings

All     District

Medina          9-1       4-0

Leakey           6-4       3-1

Nueces Canyon         4-6       2-2

Prairie Lea     3-6       1-3

McDade         2-8       0-4

Last week’s scores:

Leakey 60, Prairie Lea 13

Medina at Nueces Canyon

McDade has an open date

This week’s games:

Chester (5-5) vs. Medina, TBD

Leakey vs. Leverett’s Chapel (7-2), Saturday at Zephyr