The No. 12 Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk football team travels to Albia tonight to match up with the No. 1 Blue Demons in the second round of the class 2A playoffs.
Mid-Prairie advanced through round one on Wednesday with a 28-10 win at Prairie City Monroe. The Golden Hawks never trailed in the game, leading 21-3 at the half. Nolan Faselt paced the Mid-Prairie offense with 33 carries for 203 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan Cortum was three of five through the air for 42 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
On the season the Golden Hawks are led by Cortum in the passing game. He is 56 for 111 for 998 yards, nine touchdowns and seven interceptions. On the ground Ricky Vargas has 905 yards and 11 touchdowns on 116 carries, while Faselt has 828 yards on 154 attempts with 10 touchdowns. The Hawks leading receiver is Blake Schwartz with 24 catches, 505 yards and four touchdowns. As a team the Golden Hawks are sixth in the state at 18 yards per pass completion, eighth in quarterback rating at 145.9, 14th in rushing yards with 2,313, and 10th in the state at 6.4 yards per play. The Golden Hawk offense is 19th in the state averaging 27 points per game. The Mid-Prairie defense is sixth in the state allowing just 13 points per contest and ninth in the state forcing 19 turnovers this season.
Albia enters tonight’s contest after rolling through Iowa Falls, Alden 56-0 on Wednesday night at home. Carter Isley led the Blue Demons with 155 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, Bret Freshwater finished with 108 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns. Blake Bayer was two for five through the air for 26 yards and a touchdown. The Blue Demons have outscored their opponents on the season 513-51, and have had a running clock at some point in each of their 10 games on the year. Albia is led the by the top rusher in 2A, Carter Isley with 1730 yards and 31 touchdowns on 217 carries. Isley’s 31 touchdowns and eight yards per carry are also the best in the state. Bayer is 23 of 54 through the air on the year for 496 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions. His favorite target is Kyle Sinnott with five catches for 118 yards and two scores. As a team, Albia is number one in the 2A at 20 yards per pass completion, third in the state with 3,345 rushing yards, second in the state at 8.2 yards per carry, best in the state with 60 rushing touchdowns, and fourth in total offense with 3,875 yards compiled. The Albia defense is the best in 2A with 19 interceptions on the year, and has forced 30 total turnovers. Albia’s scoring offense is the best in the state averaging 51 points per game, while the defense holds opponents to just five points per contest, second best in the state. The Blue Demons also lead all of class 2A in margin of victory at 46 points per game.
Albia Leads the all-time series with Mid-Prairie four wins to two, including a 2-0 mark against the Golden Hawks in the playoffs. The last meeting between these two was in last year’s first round of the class 2A playoffs. Albia took that contest 49-8, on their way to the UNI-Dome. Mid-Prairie committed five turnovers in the game while Carter Isley rolled up 157 yards on 20 carries with four touchdowns. You can hear all of the action live tonight from Albia High School on AM 1380, FM 102.5 and KCIIradio.com with pregame set for 6:30 and kickoff at 7PM on KCII.