It was a party-like atmosphere before kickoff at Dwight G. Sattler Field in Wellman Friday as the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk football team welcomed fans to their 61st Homecoming game, and the product on the field added to the festivities as the Hawks posted an impressive 42-0 win over visiting Eddyville-Blakesburg. In a game heard on AM and FM KCII, Mid-Prairie dominated from the onset, possessing the ball seven times in the first half, and ending each drive in the end zone.
The Hawks started with a three play, 36 yard march after great field position set things up, it ended with a Will Cavanagh to Jarrett Hoffman touchdown pass to put Mid-Prairie up 6-0. Four minutes later the lead doubled when Tyler Helmuth capped a five play 41 yard march with the first of his three scoring runs on the night, this one from nine yards and the Hawks led 13-0. Mid-Prairie turned EBF away on their next drive and then chewed up 80 yards on nine plays with Braden Hartley plowing in from eight yards out to put Mid-Prairie in front 20-0 to end the first frame.
The second quarter held more of the same in store. After a Rocket turnover on downs, Helmuth scored for the second time, rumbling 34 yards for the touchdown to finish a six play 78 yard dirve, a two point conversion on a Will Cavanagh rush made it 28-0 Hawks. Mid-Prairie found the end zone twice more before half, Hartley on a three yard run to finish a five play 38 yard march and Helmuth completed the hat trick of touchdowns with a 39 yard run around right end.
With the game in hand, the Golden Hawks focused the second half on defense and experience for reserves as the two teams played the second 24 minutes to a scoreless tie. Mid-Prairie’s best drive covered 11 plays and 78 yards but was stopped on a fourth down at the Rocket two. EBF’s deepest penetration on the night was the Mid-Prairie 17. The Hawks outgained the Rockets 454-90 including 301-90 on the ground. Mid-Prairie did not surrender a passing yard or completion in the contest. The Hawks had 22 first downs to just six for the Rockets. After the game, Mid-Prairie head coach Pete Cavanagh shared his biggest takeaways. “We wanted to get our offense going and play better than we did last time out. It was nice to see us be efficient. Our offensive line, most of them are now back and healthy and our running backs benefitted, and then ran hard. When we run hard we can break tackles and make big plays. I thought our defensive line, guys like Terry (Bordenave) and Gannon (Callahan) and Jarron (Thomas) and Kaden Meader and Shawn Dodds all played well up front. Terry is great. He’s got a ton of energy. He really gets after it. He brings the juice to our defense. I was glad to see him have a big game. Good things happen to good people. It was Homecoming, it’s all about this week. You hope to go out, play well and make it a memorable one for our guys. We got everybody in. Everyone played hard and we got a big win.”
The Golden Hawks had a good mix on offense with Will Cavanagh going nine of 13 through the air for 136 yards and a touchdown. Jack Pennington was his favorite target with four catches for 57 yards. Tyler Helmuth racked up 127 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries. Braden Hartley added 76 yards and a pair of scores on eight touches. Justice Jones had nine and a half tackles, Terry Bordenave finished with six stops, two tackles for loss. With the win, the Hawks are back at .500 at 2-2 as they gear up for a road trip to Central Lee next Friday.