Tonight on KCII it’s a top 10 high school football showdown in Wellman when undefeated and sixth ranked Mid-Prairie hosts the 4-1 and seventh ranked Williamsburg Raiders.
Mid-Prairie is out to their first 5-0 start since 1976. Both teams are undefeated in district play with Williamsburg at 3-0 and the Hawks at 2-0. The Golden Hawks have done it with a balanced effort on both sides of the football and contributions up and down the roster. Offensively, Mid-Prairie is 15th in class 2A in total offense with 1,727 yards and 12th in scoring at 34 points per game for the season.
The ground game has led the Golden Hawk offensive attack most of the year, averaging 252 rushing yards per game, 12th in the state, 16 rushing touchdowns for the year, also 12th in 2A and the Hawks are 10th in the state averaging 6.2 yards per carry. Leading the Golden Hawk ground game are a pair of running backs, Nolan Faselt and Ricky Vargas. Vargas ranks 10th in all of 2A with 603 yards for the year and 10th with eight touchdowns and is in the top 10 at 8.3 yards per carry. Faselt is in the top 10 in yards per carry.
The Mid-Prairie aerial attack took center stage last week in the Golden Hawks 49-26 win at Sigourney-Keota. Senior quarterback Ryan Cortum threw for 279 yards and four touchdowns on nine of 11 passing. Most of those yards came in the first half but the total still ranks sixth all time in Mid-Prairie history for passing yards in a game. That total includes an 85 yard touchdown throw to Levi Duwa, the second longest passing touchdown in the history of Golden Hawk football. The Hawks love the big play through the air they are third in all of 2A in yards per completion at 21 yards per catch. Cortum’s 193.3 passer rating is the third highest in the state.
On the defensive side of the football Mid-Prairie has the fifth ranked scoring defense in all of 2A, allowing just 11 points per game this year. The Golden Hawks have not surrendered a point in their first two district games of the season. The Golden Hawk defense is allowing 241 yards per game this year and just 87 yards per game during district play.
The Williamsburg Raiders enter play at 4-1 overall, their only loss of the season a 24-23 setback in week two, non-district action at Carlisle. The Raider offense is led by a balanced attack. Williamsburg is ranked third in the state in total offense at 2,111 yards for the season, and eighth in scoring offense at 36 points per game. The Raiders have 1,102 yards on the ground and 1,009 yards through the air.
The Raider ground game is led by Senior running back Blake Hughes with 435 yards rushing for the year, he is in the top 10 in the state averaging seven yards per carry. The Williamsburg passing offense ranks fifth in the state, led by Senior quarterback Vic Malloy. Malloy is 10th in the state with 886 yards passing, third in the state with a 62% completion percentage and has yet to throw an interception this year while tossing 10 touchdowns. His favorite target is Noah Heitshusen, the Senior wide receiver is second in the state with 29 receptions and fourth in the state with five touchdown catches on the year.
Williamsburg won this match up a season ago 37-20 with Senior running back Mitchell Stahl having a huge night, leading the way with 33 carries for 195 yards and four touchdowns. The Raiders lead the all time series with 10 wins to Mid-Prairie’s two. The last Golden Hawk win came in 2009 with a 21-19 final score, the only other was a game in 1960 that saw the Hawks win a defensive slugfest 8-6. You can hear all of the action between the #6 Golden Hawks and #7 Raiders tonight on AM 1380, FM 102.5, and KCIIradio.com, live from Dwight G. Sattler Field in Wellman, with the Washington HyVee pregame show beginning at 7PM. The one to count on for today’s local sports coverage is AM and FM KCII.