PARKERS PRAIRIE, Minn.– The Parkers Prairie Panthers (7-1) have won Section 6A each of the last two seasons. Working on a 3-peat and another trip back to the state tournament began on Tuesday night hosting an opening round playoff matchup with the Nevis Tigers (3-5).
This was the first ever meeting of Nevis and Parkers Prairie in football. For Nevis, the game was also their first playoff game as a Class A 11-man school. Tiger football had previously been classified in Class 9-man, including winning the 9-man State Championship in 2023.
On a windy and cold fall night, the Panthers stayed hot for a 51-16 victory to advance in the postseason. Jumping out to a 44-0 lead at halftime thanks to a combination of hard running and solid movement from the offensive line up front.
Parkers Prairie’s offense was led by the Ruckheim boys, who both caused havoc all over the field against Nevis. Zach Ruckheim finished the night with 88 rushing yards and a game-high 3 rushing touchdowns. That included the games first score on a 1-yard rushing score to make it 8-0 early. Isaac Ruckheim rattled off 142 yards on the ground with a pair of runs that reached the end zone. The latter touchdown run came on a 65-yard burst late in the second quarter.
Trevor Rounds made his impact felt on both sides of the football. On top of 3 carried for 22 yards and 1 rushing touchdown, Rounds recorded his second interception of the season in the second quarter to set up a touchdown run for Zach Ruckheim to make it a 30-0 Panther lead at the time. A late first half score from Xavier Richardson, who averaged 22 yards/rush with 88 yards on 4 carries, punched in his lone touchdown run of the night on a 7-yard rushing score.
The Tiger defense forced and recovered a pair of fumbles in the game. Offensively, their offense was led on the ground by junior running back Peyton Benson’s 39 rushing yards on 7 carries. Benson added 2 catches for 19 yards receiving. Senior quarterback Ethan Buckholtz was 6/10 passing for 80 yards and 2 touchdown passes in his final game donning the Nevis green and white. Tyler York nabbed 3 catches for 40 receiving yards, including a 23 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Robert Lindow recorded 1 catch for 4 yards and 1 touchdown reception.
Nevis (3-6) has their football season come to an end. Congrats on the conclusion of another season of Tiger football!
Parkers Prairie (8-1) advances to the 6A Semi-Final game against no. 3 seed in 6A, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley (8-1). That game kicks off at 2 p.m. this Saturday from Parkers Prairie. The winner of Saturday’s game will advance to the Section 6A Championship game Friday, October 31 at 12:30 p.m. from the Fargodome.