A year later, but the script stayed the same.

Last season, the lowly Prairie Hawks were tied 21-21`with heavily favored Cedar Falls going into the fourth quarter but ended up losing 41-28.

It was deja vu all over again Friday night at John Wall Field as the undefeated and second-ranked Tigers put on a four-touchdown blitz in the final quarter for a come-from-way-behind 41-30 victory.

“Sometimes,” said a dejected second-year Prairie Coach Mike Morrissey, “when teams are used to winning just two or three games a year, they have to re-learn how to win.

“We seem to have a hard time finishing games.”

As it was last year, rifle-armed Hawk quarterback Jace Hanna almost single-handedly carried his team to the near upset. He tossed for 361 yards then and another 327 this time around.

In the first half alone Friday, the strong and savvy senior threw three touchdown passes and ran for another as Prairie built a 28-7 cushion. The Hawks totaled more than 300 yards in total offense at the midpoint.

“With it being homecoming, we really came out with fire,” said Hanna.

Indeed, their performance matched the traditional pre-game lighting of a giant letter “P’ in the end zone and an accompanying fireworks display.

After Cedar Falls (6-0, 4-0) jumped to a 7-0 lead, Hanna capped off a six-play drive with a sweet 26-yard scoring pass to Kentrel Smith.

He scored himself on a 2-yard sneak to start the second quarter, then four minutes later hit Jarred Edmonds for a 93-yard scoring bomb.

The Hawks (3-3, 1-2) snuffed a Tiger drive on 4th-and-9 at the 22 with three minutes left in the half and marched down the field to score again just before intermission on a short Hanna pass to Demetrius Harper.

“We went up on them so quickly, and we really had the momentum,” Morrissey said. “We put ourselves in a great position to win the game. Then we had a letdown in the second half.

“Maybe (we) played too conservative. I’ll take the blame for that.”

The momentum seemed to shift midway through the third quarter when the Tigers’ Nicholas deBuhr blocked Edmonds’ punt and ran for a score from 12 yards out.

Behind a huge offensive line and with a pair of bruising running backs, Cedar Falls began pounding the ball on the ground. “With those big guys up front, they just took control of the game,” Morrissey noted.

Nick Clark scored from 10 yards out at the start of the fourth quarter to bring the Tigers within a touchdown, 28-21.

Prairie gained a little breathing room (and its only points of the second half) when Tristan Beyer blocked a Cedar Falls punt and the ball bounced out of the end zone for a safety, making it 30-21.

But when things started going bad for Prairie, they went really bad.

First, running back Mitch Christensen fumbled at the 22-yard line and the Tigers’ Jake Buck bucked in from 13 soon after. Following a Prairie punt, Buck came right back with a 61-yard score to put Cedar Falls ahead 34-30.

Trying to bring his team back, Hanna was hit while attempting a pass and big Tiger defensive end Ike Boettger took the fumble 36 yards for another score with 4:34 left in the game.

“Those two fumbles were very costly,” said Morrissey. “But, you have to hand it to Cedar Falls. They have some very good players, and they made the big plays when they had to.”

For the second year in a row, Hanna saw a superb effort end in disappointment.

“It’s tough,” he said. “We  started out great, then kind of ran out of steam. We shut ‘em down, and we let it slip away.”

CEDAR FALLS 41, PRAIRIE 30

CF       CRP
First downs      15       17
Rushing          44-312   31-105
Passing          7-12-0   24-42-1
Passing yards    58       327
Fumbles/Lost     0/0      2/2
Penalties        5-30     7-35

Cedar Falls     7  0  7  27  – 41
Prairie            7 21  0   2  – 30

CF - Brayden Longnecker 1 run (Jacob Newton kick)
P – Kentrel Smith 26 pass from Jace Hanna (Sam Drysdale kick)
P – Hanna 2 run (Drysdale kick)
P – Jarred Edmonds 93 pass from Hanna (Drysdale kick)
P – Demetrius Harper 5 pass from Hanna (Drysdale kick)
CF – Nick deBuhr 12 blocked punt return (Newton kick)
CF – Nick Clark 10 run (Newton kick)
P – Safety
CF – Jake Buck 13 run (Newton kick)
CF – Buck 61 run (run failed)
CF – Boettger 36 fumble return (Newton kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATSTICS
Rushing
Cedar Falls - Jake Buck 21-186, Nick Clark 17-115, Brayden Longnecker 5-12.
Prairie - Mitch Christensen 14-60, Jace Hanna 8-26, Demetrius Harper 8-17.

Passing
Cedar Falls – Longnecker 7-12-0-58.
Prairie - Hanna 24-42-1-327.

Receiving
Cedar Falls – Ike Boettger 4-55.
Prairie - Jarred Edmonds 7-225, Harper 9-32, Kentrel Smith 3-59, Mitch Dellamuth 1-11.

Sophs - Cedar Falls 21, Prairie 14