The Mid-Prairie football team is coming off of an 8-3 season that saw a lot of quality seniors graduate.

Offensively for the Golden Hawks they have to find a quarterback that will replace the record breaking arm of Reid Miller who went 125-206 last year with 15 touchdowns. Ryan Cortum seems to be the guy that will take his place, throwing the ball four times last year and completing one pass for a touchdown. Although they do lose their 1000 yard rusher in Eesaa Baylor, Austin Slabaugh should fill in easily with his 350 yards last year on 51 carries. The receiving core may be the biggest issue for the Golden Hawks, losing five seniors off the team.

Defensively for Mid-Prairie they lose quite a few seniors, but Devon Young and Karson Duwa both return as the top tacklers and will need to lead a young group of guys. Jordan Ulin will also help with that with his team leading two solo sacks last year. Slabaugh will anchor the secondary with his team leading three interceptions, while Cortum will be asked to step up as a junior with his two interceptions last year.

Special teams may be the biggest loss for the Golden Hawks with the loss of Austin Errthum. The senior kicker got close to the state record for longest field goal, and made the Golden Hawks a constant threat to put points on the board.

The Golden Hawks lose the Washington Country rivalry game, so they will kick things off this week with Durant-Bennett on Friday, and then play at Clear Creek Amana for their first road game. Louisa-Muscatine is their third game before they travel to West Burlington, host Sigourney-Keota for a renewed rivalry game, and then play the newest edition to 2A in Williamsburg. Mid-Prairie closes out the regular season with Central Lee, West Liberty and Mediapolis.

The Golden Hawks will be on the air this year with our new FM transmitter. Listen to Mid-Prairie football on Friday online at KCIIradio.com, or on our new 102.5.