Comeback kids. You’ve heard the phrase before, but have you heard about the 2021-2022 Prosser Mustangs Football team?  Three games. Three last-minute victories and a playoff berth.

Week four, Prosser plays against Ellensburg, in Ellensburg. Arguably the biggest game of the season so far, there was an immense amount of pressure for a win. Ellensburg and Prosser are historical rivals, on top of that, this was the bulldogs’ Homecoming. Additionally, Prosser was without our starting running back Cade Harris, and our quarterback was just returning after a positive covid test. According to wide receiver Isaac Kernan, the game went as expected: a chess match of sorts. Both teams were trading blows until the end of regulation when Ellensburg had a game-tying drive. During the first overtime, the Mustangs drove down to the Bulldogs 1. High snap. 4th-and-goal, Kaiden Rivera finds AJ Gonzales for a 19-yard game-ending score. There’s a flag on the play, no touchdown. Bulldogs had a hard time moving the ball and the Mustangs force a turnover. Double overtime. Two overtimes in, Rivera throws a pass to Kernan for the win. For the first time in 10 years, Prosser beats Ellensburg in their home stadium.

Week seven against Ephrata.  Going into the game, Prosser was the clear favorite. At the time the Mustangs were 5-1 and the tigers were 4-4. The general consensus was that this would be a cakewalk of a game for the ‘stangs. Spoiler alert: that was not the case. Prosser Coach, Cory Ingvalson, preaches that “loose teams always lose to tight teams.” The first three-quarters of the game seemed to prove him right. Prosser was playing undisciplined football, and their opponents took advantage of that. Late in the fourth quarter, a muffed punt made it seem like the tigers might hand the Mustangs their first league loss on the season. Game over, right? Wrong. The defense stepped up, giving the ball back to the offense on our 2-yard line. 98 yards. 90 seconds. Kaiden Revira marches us down the field methodically. He airs one out to Chris Veloz for the score and the win. Prosser clinches the CWAC title for the 33rd time.

Week eight, Selah week. We had already taken the league title, but playoff seeding had yet to be set so this game had huge implications on how the postseason would go. So of course, we had to end with a bang. Selah came out swinging, coming off a big win at home a week prior, we were punched right in the mouth. At the end of the third quarter, Selah was up 26-7. In the fourth quarter, a fumbled recovery for a touchdown was just the spark we needed. Prosser scored 19 unanswered points. 26-26. Overtime. The first overtime was a stalemate, neither team could score. We headed into double overtime for the second time this season. A touchdown pass to Max Flores ended the game. We had done it, went undefeated in the CWAC, and headed to state playoffs.

This year it truly seemed like Prosser outscored their opponents in the fourth quarter four to one. The football team only lost one game the entire regular season, but the way they played made the crowd stay till the time on the clock expired every time. Wining the CWAC and accomplishing what we did with how young the team was means a lot, it means that there is a bright future ahead for the Prosser Mustangs!