MOSCOW — It’d been 18 games since Prairie’s state powerhouse football team had been beaten, let alone challenged.

That was in November 2018, when Oakley nipped the Pirates from Cottonwood by four points in a Class 1A Division I state semifinal classic.

Two years later, the rivals from 400 miles apart — who always seem to square off in November — took the drama to another level.

Oakley recovered a fumbled Pirate snap on its 1-yard line with 36 seconds to play, denying Prairie a second consecutive state title in a thrilling 42-40 victory Friday at the University of Idaho’s Kibbie Dome.

“We just made one more play than they did, and that’s all that came down to, because both teams made plays,” said Oakley coach Brennan Jones, whose Hornets were routed by Prairie in the 2019 semifinal round.

“I bet our guys feel really vindicated tonight.”

Trailing by that same margin after an 87-yard kickoff return touchdown from Oakley star Dace Jones, the Pirates elected to chew the clock.

They drained eight minutes of game time on a methodical drive, which saw senior quarterback Cole Schlader pick up a fourth-and-4 in the red zone. Then came the unpredictable finish at the goal line in a game full of twists and turns.

“That’s as good as football can get,” Brennan Jones said. “Drama the whole 9 yards.”

The fourth quarter featured three lead changes, as both defenses looked gassed from two of 8-man football’s most electric offenses.

Prairie (7-1), which led by as many as 16 points in the first half, had its second deficit of the season come after a 33-yard touchdown from Jace Robinson to Dace Jones to open the fourth quarter, making it 36-34.

Hard-running Pirate back Tayden Hibbard answered with a 47-yard breakaway score, but Oakley swiped the momentum again with Jones’ ensuing kickoff return.

“To battle in that game right there and be that close — within inches of scoring at the goal line — it’s painful,” Pirates coach Ryan Hasselstrom said. “But it was the gutsiest performance I think I’ve ever had with a group of kids.”

Prairie lost All-Idaho lineman Dean Johnson to a dislocated ankle on its first series. Brennan Jones said that “played a big part.”

Yet the Pirates continued to play with an added layer of intensity, and owned the edge until late in the second quarter.

“I’ll give it to Oakley, they drove up here and got the win, but there’s nothing I can say bad about our kids,” said Hasselstrom, who also lost preseason Sports Illustrated All-American running back Cole Martin early this year to a knee injury, and was without injured senior receiver/defensive end John Gehring.

The Hornets (10-1) took advantage with their ground game and sporadic shots through the air. They rode a solid outing from Isaac Mitton, who posted two scores and many more chunk gains. Oakley closed the Prairie lead to 28-20 at halftime.

“These guys hadn’t played a whole game this year, and we had, so we knew if we could hold them in the first half, the second half could be ours,” Dace Jones said.

Schlader, Hibbard and Brody Hasselstrom didn’t make life easy on Oakley. Brody Hasselstrom broke off a pair of second-half 62-yard scoring scampers, and Schlader compiled three scores and a handful of savvy, veteran reps.

Schlader was 12-of-17 for 219 yards, with two interceptions in the third — one at the goal line.

Brody Hasselstrom and Hibbard totaled a combined 430 yards from scrimmage. Robinson went 14-for-24 for 290 yards and three touchdowns on broken-coverage plays.

The teams registered 1,052 yards of offense on 126 plays.

“We’ve played them so many times. We do so much of the same stuff,” Hasselstrom said. “It’s just heartbreaking to be this close.”

Otherwise, Oakley snapped its “Kibbie Dome curse” — the Hornets hadn’t won a game in Moscow since 2016.

“That drove us,” said Dace Jones, whose Hornets face league foe Raft River in next weekend’s final. “Something our team says: ‘The wolf on top of the hill isn’t as hungry as the one climbing it.’ We were hungry in this situation.”

Oakley 0 20 8 14—42

Prairie 12 16 6 6—40

First Quarter

Prairie — Cole Schlader 16 run (run failed).

Prairie — Dalton Jones 1 pass from Schlader (run failed).

Second Quarter

Oakley — Isaac Mitton 13 run (run failed).

Prairie — Schlader 3 run (Schlader run).

Oakley — Robert Wybenga 44 pass from Robinson (run failed).

Prairie — Brody Hasselstrom 62 run (Tayden Hibbard run).

Oakley — Mitton 6 run (Mitton run).

Third Quarter

Oakley — Dace Jones 49 pass from Robinson (Austin Cranney pass from Mitton).

Prairie — Hasselstrom 62 run (run failed).

Fourth Quarter

Oakley — Cranney 30 pass from Robinson (Wybenga run).

Prairie — Hibbard 50 run (run failed).

Oakley — Wybenga 89 kickoff return (run failed).

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Oakley: Mitton 19-99, Wybenga 4-42, Jace Robinson 4-18. Prairie: Hasselstrom 24-199, Schlader 17-104, Hibbard 16-75, Trenton Lorentz 1-6.

PASSING — Oakley: Robinson 14-24-1-290. Prairie: Schlader 12-17-2-219.

RECEIVING — Oakley: Cranney 6-103, Jones 2-91, Wybenga 3-84, Corbin Bedke 2-12. Prairie: Hasselstrom 3-86, Hibbard 2-70, Chase Kaschmitter 1-18, Jesse Cronan 1-13, Wyatt Ross 1-6.

Clark may be reached at cclark@lmtribune.com, on Twitter @ClarkTrib or by phone at (208) 848-2260.