The district schedule for the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks in the upcoming 2020 football season, looks very familiar. Entering district play, Mid-Prairie will see four of the five teams from 2019’s class 2A district 6, where the Golden Hawks went 4-1, their only loss coming to eventual district champion and UNI-Dome qualifier Williamsburg. The Raiders are back on the Mid-Prairie district schedule as are Central Lee, Eddyville-Blakesburg, and Davis County. Albia will not return, they have moved to another district while West Burlington Notre Dame has taken their place. Mid-Prairie head coach Pete Cavanagh spoke this week about the level of competition in the district and the familiarity of opponents. “It is nice to have played them a couple of years in a row. A lot of these teams are to our south so it does tend to increase travel distance. Knowing what they do and having film on them does help. Ultimately it comes down to Williamsburg as the team to beat because they won the district last year. It will be a challenge. The other teams will be improved over last year because a year ago most of them were very young. To win district you have to go undefeated. It is rare to find a one loss or even a two loss district champion, and that’s the route to get into the postseason under the current format.”
The Hawks open district play on September 25th by hosting, the Hawks, of Central Lee. This will be the 11th all-time meeting between the two programs with Mid-Prairie holding an eight win and two loss mark in the series. The Golden Hawks have won two straight against Central Lee including a 60-7 win last year in Wellman.
Week two of the district sees Mid-Prairie stay in Wellman to take on the visiting Eddyville-Blakesburg Rockets. This will be the 11th all-time meeting between the two schools with Mid-Prairie holding a 9-1 record. Last year the Golden Hawks pounded the Rockets in Eddyville on their homecoming 62-7.
The third week of district play sees Mid-Prairie hit the road to face the defending district champion Williamsburg Raiders. This will be the programs 22nd time lining up across from each other. The Raiders have won 17 of the previous 21 matchups including 16 of the last 17 and six in a row, the latest being a 28-6 win in Williamsburg last season.
Another road trip awaits in the second to last week of the regular season when the Hawks meet Davis County in Bloomfield. This will mark the schools eighth all-time meeting in the series with Mid-Prairie winning five of the first seven including a 63-6 victory in Wellman last season.
The Golden Hawks wrap up the regular season on October 23rd, hosting the West Burlington Notre Dame Falcons in Wellman for Senior Night. This will be the 10th time the schools have met with Mid-Prairie holding a perfect 9-0 record against the Falcons. Their last meeting came in 2015 on the Golden Hawks Homecoming with both teams ranked in the top 15 in the state. Mid-Prairie celebrated with a 27-0 win. The Golden Hawks are scheduled to see their first live action of 2020 on August 21st when they host West Liberty for their annual fall sports tailgator, gator bowl and player auction. The season opens on August 28th at home against Sigourney-Keota.