PRESCOTT —With their backs against the wall down 22-8 after the first quarter, Prescott came together to rally for a 30-28 win over the Somerset Spartans Friday, Sept. 20.

“We didn’t play our best, but we came out and found a way in the second half,” Head Coach Jordan Hansen said. “To be able to rally and come back and play the way we did was awesome to see.”

Prescott came out of the gates flying, with Teddy Bernick going deep on the opening play to Will Packard for a long touchdown. As Somerset gave up 70 points a week ago to Baldwin-Woodville, it looked as if they might suffer a similar fate early. That is when things quickly changed for the Spartans with 22 unanswered points.

Prescott was getting continually stuffed offensively, going on a scoreless drought until late into the second quarter. With two minutes left in the half, a crucial drive that featured some solid passing from Bernick led to Ethan West punching it in on the ground to cut the lead to 22-16.

A kickoff that bounced to the five-yard line and a forced punt gave Prescott 42 seconds with a chance to score to end the half but the Cardinals could not.

“Going into the half we felt really good even though they were up,” senior lineman David Regnier said.

Prescott got a stop to start the half and punched it in on fourth and goal at the one to tie the game at 22 on the first Cardinal drive of the half. It was Barrett Temmers who took a shotgun handoff and rammed through the middle of the line to muscle in. Temmers finished with 103 yards on 19 carries.

After offensive struggles for much of the first half, Hansen said it was just about stringing together a few first downs to get the offense consistently moving.

“Just to try to get a couple first downs,” Hansen said. “When our offense goes, it goes and it’s hard to stop.”

Early in the fourth, Bernick faked a handoff to Temmers and saw an opening, with great blocking paving the way for a 13-yard score and a 30-22 lead. Somerset eventually punched back, but on the two–point conversion, a jet sweep was read masterfully by Temmers, who spanned much of the field and arrived just on time to make the play on the edge.

Somerset got the ball back with 1:06 to play, but an overthrow to an open receiver deep on the left sideline was the lone opportunity they would have to strike.

Somerset gave Prescott everything they could handle, but it was not a match for the composure of the Cardinals.

“They’re way better than a 1-4 team, they should be a four or five win team right now, they’re so good,” Regnier said. “This is the first time we beat them in my career, and basically all of the guys’ careers, so it feels really good.

“It took a 22-man effort. Every single person had to play their hearts out,” Regnier said. “We were all cramping at the end there, but the important thing is we were better than them and got the dub.”

The win brings Prescott to a 5-0 overall record and 3-0 in Middle Border Conference play. The Cardinals are tied with Baldwin-Woodville for the top spot in the conference.

There are four games remaining for Prescott, and three of them come against three of the top four teams in the conference, with the fourth team being themselves. It will not be easy, but the Cardinals know what they need to do to keep it going.

“It’s gonna take a heck of a team effort and focus every day in practice to make sure we’re ready to go,” Hansen said. “There’s a lot of good football teams in the Middle Border, you gotta take it one game at a time.”

First up on the difficult path ahead is St. Croix Central on the road Friday.

“One week at a time. We’re 5-0, build on it, keep doing the little things right,” Regnier said.