Prante, Montesano run past Eatonville in 56-21 rout

For all those seasons his Montesano High School football teams were bruisers on grass, coach Terry Jensen isn’t so sure what to think of the new artificial turf that was laid on Jack Rottle Field a few weeks ago.

“We like to look pretty now, I guess,” Jensen said.

Pretty – and perfectly suited for Kylar Prante, his senior speedster.

Prante not only was the fastest player on the field, he was the best one, too, dominating in all three phases as the Bulldogs walloped Eatonville, 56-21 on Friday night.

Eatonville (2-3, 1-2) won the 1A Evergreen Conference in its first season in the new league last year, but now has lost games to Hoquiam and Montesano, and will likely have to fight for the remaining No. 3 playoff spot.

The Bulldogs (4-1, 3-0) have a showdown with Hoquiam next week for what very well could determine the 1A EvCo title.

Prante almost single-handedly destroyed the Cruisers, scoring five touchdowns. Three of them came on runs (3, 60, 41 yards), one came on a first-quarter kickoff return (90 yards) and his 57-yard interception return midway through the third quarter closed the door on Eatonville.

He picked off Jacob McCormick and darted up the right sideline untouched for the score to give the Bulldogs a 49-14 lead with 6 minutes, 47 seconds to go in the quarter.

“He had a great game tonight,” Jensen said. “He wants to play college football. I think he has a shot.”

He later added his final touchdown on a 41-yard scamper early in the fourth quarter.

“We couldn’t stop him,” Eatonville coach George Fairhart said. “We had him a few times, but we couldn’t bring him down.”

The key swing came in the second quarter as each team exchanged long drives.

The Cruisers started at their own 8, reached the Montesano 24, but running back Logan Moose was stopped for no gain on a run on fourth-and-2.

Montesano kept it for most of the rest of the first half, going 76 yards on 15 plays. The Bulldogs converted a pair of fourth downs along the way – and took a 28-14 lead on Prante’s 3-yard touchdown run up the gut with 23 seconds remaining.

Montesano outgained the Cruisers, 434-297. Moose finished with 125 yards on 18 carries with a pair of touchdowns.

This story was originally published October 2, 2015 at 10:15 PM with the headline "Prante, Montesano run past Eatonville in 56-21 rout."