The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk football team saw it’s season end on Friday at No. 3 West Marshall in the second round of the class 2A playoffs 26-14. In a game heard on AM and FM KCII, the high powered ground attack of the Trojans took the ball first and marched the field, going 60 yards on eight plays and finished with a Peyton Hart two yard touchdown run to go up 6-0 three and a half minutes into the game. That was all of the scoring for the first half. Despite running just 17 snaps to the Trojans 39 and being outgained 139-33 and throwing two interceptions, the Hawks were down just six at the break to No. 3 West Marshall.

Out of the half, the Golden Hawks found a spark, putting together an initial march that covered 52 yards on eight plays before a red zone fumble stalled things at the Trojan nine. West Marshall took advantage as Hart went up top to Grahm Nason on third down for a 66 passing touchdown to double the Trojan lead to 14-0 after the two point conversion. Mid-Prairie had the answer their next time with the ball, moving 73 yards on nine plays, the final 25 covered on a Will Cavanagh quarterback draw to get the Hawks back in it at 14-7. That’s where the score stood going to the final frame after each team was forced to punt. In the fourth, West Marshall went 55 yards on six plays, keyed by a 30 yard pass completion and finished by a Preston Pope six yard touchdown run to go up 20-7 with eight minutes left. Mid-Prairie’s next possession ended with another costly turnover, the Hawks fourth giveaway of the night on a snap that pinballed the backfield between Cavanagh and Helmuth and was picked up by West Marshall at the Mid-Prairie 28 and turned into a Hart touchdown six plays and three minutes later to make it 26-7 with under five minutes to go. The Golden Hawks would put together one more late scoring drive, going 67 yards on 13 plays and finishing with a Cavanagh to Jack Pennington four yard touchdown connection to get within 26-14 at the final horn. After the game, Mid-Prairie head coach Pete Cavanagh credited West Marshall, talked about the key turnovers and the Golden Hawk seniors. “They have some great running backs over there. We could never get our offense going in the first half which put our defense in tough spots on the field, and they played big all night other than the first drive and that was what kept us in the game. Defensively, I thought we played well enough to win. Offensively we couldn’t get enough going. We had a couple of crucial penalties and that put us behind the sticks. Crucial penalties, turnovers and some miscommunications in there. Some of the credit for those things needs to go to West Marshall. The pressure that they put you under is causing some of those things. These seniors have meant a lot. It’s hard. They have a lot to be proud of. They have worked hard and been strong leaders.”

Mid-Prairie was outgained on the night 397 to 246 including 290 to 154 on the ground. The Trojans won time of possession 31 minutes to 17 minutes, went seven of 14 on third down, were three of five in the red zone and forced a pair of Golden Hawk interceptions and two Mid-Prairie fumbles. Braden Hartley and Will Cavanagh in the backfield combined for 20 carries and 132 yards with Cavanagh getting a rushing touchdown. Through the air he was 11 of 23 for 92 yards with a scoring throw. Pennington pulled in eight passes for 61 yards and a touchdown. Justice Jones had 12 and a half tackles, Cain Brown 11. Mid-Prairie wraps up their season at 6-4. West Marshall advances to the state quarterfinals next week where they will host Williamsburg who was a runaway winner over Prairie City Monroe. The Golden Hawks say goodbye to 10 seniors including Cavanagh, Pennington, Jarrett Hoffman, Evan Hall, Helmuth, Jones, Sam Harris, Cael Garvey, Zane Fisher and Gannon Callahan.