ST. JOHN — Tanner Cooper scored four touchdowns and the Pretty Prairie High School football team converted three St. John mistakes into scores en route to a 44-22 Eight-Man Division-I District 5 football victory Friday night.
The Bulldogs converted two poor snaps from punt formation into touchdowns and added a third score after Kyle Danahy’s fumble recovery for a 30-8 halftime lead.
“We played pretty well at times. But you cannot make poor decisions and give up turnovers against a good football team,” said St. John coach Nick Garcia. “The turnovers and the penalties proved too much to overcome. That’s a good Pretty Prairie team and I respect how hard they played.”
St. John quarterback Kinser Crissman connected with Zuriel Reyes for a pair of touchdown passes. Pat Prescott added a touchdown run. Crissman completed six passes for 134 yards and added 73 yards rushing. Prescott gained 55 yards rushing and had an interception.
The Tigers had their chances to make it close. St. John failed to score after driving inside the Bulldog 10-yard twice and had an early touchdown called back on a holding penalty. Another big play was negated on a lineman downfield.
St. John dropped to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in District 5. The Tigers must defeat Macksville next week to keep their playoff hopes alive. St. John last qualified for the football playoffs in 2007.
Pretty Prairie improved to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in Eight-Man I District 5 to take control of the runner-up playoff spot.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
At St. John
Pretty Prairie 44, St. John 22
Pretty Prairie    16 14  8  6  —  44
St. John              6   2   0 14 —  22
First quarter
Pretty Prairie — Tanner Cooper 4 run (Cooper run)
St. John — Zuriel Reyes 30 pass from Kinser Crissman (run failed)
Pretty Prairie — Cooper 8 run (Cooper run)
Pretty Prairie — Cooper 10 run (Tyler Markus run)
Second quarter
St. John — Safety (Stetson Broce intentional grounding in end zone)
Pretty Prairie — Cooper 18 run (run failed)
Third quarter
St. John — Reyes 48 pass from Crissman (Francisco Calleros pass from Crissman)
Pretty Prairie — Broce 5 run (Markus run)
Fourth quarter
St. John — Pat Prescott 3 run (pass failed)
Pretty Prairie — Broce 1 run (run failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—PP, 62-303, Cooper 23-116, Markus 19-109, Justin Helfrich 10-52, Broce 8-29, Mains 2-(-3); SJ, 36-98, Prescott 14-55, Crissman 21-73, team 2-(-30).
PASSING—PP, Mains 3-9-1 48, Broce 0-2-0; SJ, Crissman 7-16-1 134, Kade Kinnamon 0-6-0.
RECEIVING—PP, Broce 1-55, Dean Wade 1-(-2), Cooper 1-(-5); SJ, Reyes 2-78, Calleros 2-31, Spencer Nusser 1-5, Prescott 2-20.