The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk football team hits the road this week to open play in Class 2A district five against the West Liberty Comets.

The Golden Hawks are coming off of their first loss of the season a week ago, falling to the rival Washington Demons 55-7 in Wellman. Mid-Prairie kept things tight in the first half with the game tied at seven early in the second quarter and the Hawks trailed just 21-7 at the halftime break.

The injury bug bit the Golden Hawks in their matchup with the Demons as nearly a half dozen Hawks missed several snaps in the contest. Some of those injuries have lingered into week three, including a leg injury suffered by Mid-Prairie quarterback Karson Gingerich who has been ruled out for the game against West Liberty. On the season the Mid-Prairie senior signal caller is 14 of 20 through the air for 204 yards, two touchdowns and a pick. The Golden Hawks will turn to junior Grant Boyse who has seen action in each of the first two games, going one for seven through the air for 14 yards with two interceptions. Sophomore Brad Tornow has also gotten reps with the first teamers this week to get prepared. Keaton Duwa leads the Mid-Prairie ground attack with 32 carries for 171 yards and three touchdowns. Justin Schwartz is the leading receiver for the Hawks with 10 grabs for 164 yards and a touchdown in a pair of games. The loss of Gingerich will also be felt defensively as he enters tonight as Mid-Prairie’s second leading tackler. The Golden Hawk defense is led by Duwa with 10 stops in two games.

West Liberty comes into the game 1-1 on the year. A week ago they hammered Highland 62-7 behind 106 yards through the air from Seth Feldman with a pair of scores and 127 yards with a touchdown from Joe Kelly on the ground. In total six Comets found the end zone last week. On the year Seth Feldman leads the Comet aerial attack at 21 of 33 for 243 yards three touchdowns and two interceptions. On the ground Kelly is the workhorse with 35 carries for 334 yards and a score. Feldman’s favorite target through the air is senior Jackson Gingerich with nine catches for 68 yards and a score.

These two teams met a year ago in Wellman with the Comets scoring an upset 20-6 win. You can hear all of the action tonight between Mid-Prairie and West Liberty live from Memorial Field beginning with the KCII Football Friday Preview Show at 6p.m., the Washington HyVee pregame show at 7p.m. and kickoff at 7:30 on AM 1380, FM 102.5 and KCIIradio.com.