PROSSER – Prosser football coach Corey Ingvalson has been talking up the Mustangs’ future with just a handful of seniors on this year’s team.

Well, coach, the eventual might have arrived.

Led by an underclassmen-heavy roster, 15th-seeded Prosser rolled past No. 18 North Mason 42-14 at Art Fiker Stadium, and into the Class 2A state playoffs.

The Mustangs will learn their opponent when the brackets are unveiled Sunday.

“Maybe we are a little ahead of schedule.” Ingvalson said. “Very similar to last year, we’re peaking at the right time – I don’t think they know any different.”

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Going into Friday night’s game, there was much concern about the North Mason ground game led by Caden Atencio, who had rushed for a school-record 1,584 yards and 21 touchdowns coming into the Week 10 state-qualifier.

But the Mustangs limited the senior, keeping him well under the nearly 8-yards-a-carry average he brought into the game.

“We faced some good RBs in the CWAC and that helped prepare us,” Ingvalson said. “We knew we had to limit him and get them to be one-dimensional.”

The running back of note in this one was Prosser sophomore Autry Hoefer, who is in his fourth game back from injury. He finished with well over 100 rushing yards and four touchdowns, the last of which was an 83-yard sprint to the end zone midway through the third quarter.

“He just gives us a dimension,” Ingvalson said of Hoefer, who led Prosser with 330 rushing yards and four touchdowns as a freshman. “He’s a difference maker for us, and he’s a little more at ease with his injury.”

Hoefer’s first touchdown of the night, a 2-yard plunge, gave the Mustangs a 6-0 lead with 27 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs responded with a scoring drive, capped by a short Atencio touchdown. Unlike Prosser, North Mason converted the point-after for a 7-6 lead.

It was short-lived, however, as an unsuccessful onside kick gave Prosser the ball near midfield. The class of 2028 took it from there with lefty quarterback Daniel Diaz connecting with Brody Buxton a few times to set up Hoefer’s second score.

Two plays later, Noah Medrano stripped the ball from a Bulldogs receiver and Buxton recovered the fumble at the Bulldogs’ 43-yard line.

Hoefer would account for 24 yards on the next scoring drive, the final 12 on his third TD to send the 

Mustangs to halftime ahead 20-7.

After forcing a punt in the third, Prosser took over deep in its own territory. Shortly after, Hoefer broke away for his long touchdown.

Ben Maldonado added a 68-yard scoring run, and Diaz connected with Evan Carey for the Mustangs’ final touchdown.

Prosser was the first of the CWAC’s five teams to play in the qualifying round. The conference’s third-place team showed that the league could make plenty of noise.

“I think we can jump up a little bit,” Ingvalson said of seeding in the bracket. “I think the CWAC is going to have some good showings.”