By KLINT SPILLER

Hays Daily News

PRATT -- The Thomas More Prep-Marian football team was successful on its first and final drives at Pratt's homecoming game on Friday night. The problem was every drive in between as the Monarchs fell in a 52-11 blowout.

With the loss, TMP-Marian dropped to 1-2 in the Mid-State Activities Association and 2-3 overall, while Pratt moved to 4-1 and 2-1 in the MSAA.

The Monarchs were able to get the ball moving on their opening drive, marching down the field 59 yards on 13 plays.

Unable to get the ball into the end zone, senior Clint Taylor made a 26-yard field goal to give the Monarchs a 3-0 lead.

"We came out that opening series and did exactly what we planned on doing," Monarch coach Gene Flax said. "That is run right up the gut and hit them with a little toss from time to time."

Pratt answered on its possession, cutting through the Monarch defense. Senior quarterback Skylar Angood scampered for a 39-yard touchdown to take the lead with 3:39 left in the first quarter.

Due to a stagnant Monarch offense and three lost fumbles by Taylor, the Greenbacks used the second quarter to test the lights on the scoreboard.

"If you turn the ball over once, it's not so bad," Flax said. "But if you turn it over back-to-back and then back-to-back-to-back, it deflates a team in a hurry."

In the second quarter, senior Caleb Gillig carried the ball for 42 yards and the touchdown. He reached the end zone again seven minutes later, scoring on a 7-yard run.

Angood reached pay dirt again on a 19-yard run, and senior Chris Nicholson capped the first-half scoring with a 40-yard field goal, extending the lead to 31-3.

"Our defense wasn't doing much as you can see," senior defensive back Ethan Schmidt said. "... (Pratt) just kept pushing our D-ends out and run right up the middle on us. We just couldn't stop it."

The Monarch defense stiffened in the second half, allowing only 145 yards of Greenback offense.

Unable to take advantage of an interception by Schmidt, the Monarchs were forced to punt on their opening drive of the second half. Gillig muffed the catch, and the Monarchs regained the ball.

However, the Monarchs once again didn't get the first down and punted, but this time Gillig caught the punt and juked his way through defenders for a 76-yard touchdown return.

"The one thing that I was impressed with was when he fumbled that punt," Pratt coach Jeff Fuss said. "(Gillig) was very upset with himself. He didn't get down on himself, but he was fired up.

"You could see on that next punt return. It was one of the best returns I've seen in high school, and I've been around 20 years," Fuss added.

On the first play of the Monarchs' next drive, Angood intercepted sophomore quarterback Sean Conway.

With a short field, junior running back Chase Kreutzer carried the ball for 9 yards and scored with three Monarch defenders on his back.

In the fourth quarter, senior fullback added a 6-yard TD run.

On the Monarchs' final drive, Conway went off the field limping, and junior Andrew Heimann stepped in at quarterback.

Heimann led the Monarchs 80 yards and connected with senior Keith Gustin on a 12-yard touchdown pass.

"We were just moving the ball," Gustin said. "I don't know what it is. Sometimes we can; sometimes we can't. I think it is all heart and wanting to do it. If we think we can do it, then we can."

Unlike Heimann, Conway had trouble passing, connecting on one pass for a loss of 2 yards and throwing an interception. Conway has gone 1-of-14 passing for minus 2 yards and has thrown two interceptions over the past two weeks.

Heimann was 4-of-5 passing for 68 yards and a touchdown in the final drive.

"We are going to take a good look at him now, give him an opportunity from time to time," Flax said. "I'm not going to say right now that Sean Conway has lost his position, because he hasn't yet until Heimann can prove to us differently."

The Monarchs put up 214 yards of total offense with 148 coming on the ground and 66 through the air. Taylor led the Monarchs in rushing with 91 yards on 24 carries, and Schmidt followed with 46 yards on 16 carries.

The Greenbacks more than doubled the Monarchs' rushing total with 322 yards on the ground. Gillig was the main component, racking up 114 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.

"We just feel pretty confident running the football," Fuss said. "We have a pretty good ball club. We can run the ball on just about anybody.

"The good thing about our offense is you can stop one kid, but then you've got two others that you have to worry about. For our level, that is pretty rare. We are pretty blessed with skill kids," Fuss added.

The big win on homecoming night was not the only reward for Pratt on Friday. Junior Luke Southard also made his first appearance in a Greenbacks' jersey since his helmet-to-helmet collision in a game against Scott City on Sept. 12.

Suffering a brain injury, Southard was airlifted to Denver and has been rehabilitating for weeks.

"It is a miracle that he is here and doing as well as he's doing," Fuss said. "The doctors walked into the room. They looked at him and said, 'Kid, you shouldn't be sitting up. You shouldn't be talking.' "

Southard led his team as they walked onto the field to start the game. TMP-Marian will be on the road again Friday for another MSAA game, at Scott City.