Photo Courtesy of Mid-Prairie Football Social Media
Sometimes, everything just goes to plan. That’s exactly what happened for the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk football team in their regular season finale Friday at Dwight G. Sattler Field against Davis County. The Golden Hawks entered Senior Night in need of a win to clinch a playoff spot, and wanting to honor their seniors, they did both in a dominant 42-6 performance against the Mustangs. On the third play from scrimmage, the Hawks dipped into their bag of tricks, when Cain Brown threw a wide receiver reverse pass to tight end Grady Gingerich for a 55-yard touchdown, and Mid-Prairie was off to the races 7-0. After a Mustangs three and out, the Hawks doubled their lead, when Braden Hartley finished a three play, 36-yard drive with a 16 yard touchdown run. Davis County again did nothing with the ball and the Golden Hawks went 69-yards on six plays, Hartley the final pair, on his second of two rushing scores, to make it 21-0 Hawks still in the first quarter.
The next big play for Mid-Prairie came on special teams, when Kaden Meader and Cobi Hershberger combined on a punt block, giving the Hawks the ball at the Mustang 23. Miller went up top to Brown on the next play for a touchdown pass to make it 28-0. Points kept piling up for Mid-Prairie, following another Davis County three and out, Miller tossed a 16-yard touchdown to Grady Gingerich, his second scoring grab, running the score to 35-0 and enacting the running clock early in the second quarter. The Golden Hawk’s final touchdown of the night was a 43-yard Collin Miller scamper straight ahead to finish a three play, 74-yard drive and send Mid-Prairie to half up 42-0. Out of the locker room, the Hawks rotated through reserves and Evan Phillips recorded an interception, while Davis County broke up the shut out late on a 15-yard Tayden Bish touchdown catch. After the game, Mid-Prairie head coach Pete Cavanagh talked about his team’s focus, the win, the playoffs and the seniors. “I thought we played with a great tempo and we were very efficient offensively. We got out big with the reverse pass from Cain (Brown) to Grady (Gingerich) and we were able to run the ball after that. In the play-action game, Collin (Miller) is getting comfortable back there. Distributing the ball to the right guys. Our guys up front played really well too. On defense we were able to get out and tackle. When we get pressure on the quarterback we are able to play well. We also blocked a punt again and when you can do that, play complementary football, that’s great. Evan (Phillips) has been a great part of our program and has worked really hard. He made a nice catch along the sideline and it was so great to see our team react the way they did for him. Every single one of our seniors has contributed to our program. Terry (Bordenave) was all over the field tonight. Shawn (Dodds), the guys up front that we count on like Kaden (Meader) and Jack (Zahradnek), have been great all year. The best part about the senior class is their attitude. I’m just happy for them to see this win the last time they’ll play on that field. They’ve been a great group. I’m excited for them. They deserve a playoff spot, and now you have that chance. I hope our guys are ready. I hope our fans travel well and it should be fun.”
Unofficially, Mid-Prairie outgained Davis County 472-169 in total yards including 351 to 140 on the ground. Hartley finished with 15 carries 159 yards and two touchdowns. Collin Miller rushed for a score and threw for two others, totaling 110 all-purpose yards. Brown caught a score and threw for another and Grady Gingerich had two receiving touchdowns. Meader and Hershberger blocked a punt, Phillips had a pick and Brown led the defense with eight tackles. As a team, Mid-Prairie had 15 stops for loss. The win, moves Mid-Prairie to 5-3 on the year. They finish the district season 3-2, clinching the three seed and a spot on the road in the playoffs next week. Mid-Prairie honored seniors Cain Brown, Collin Miller, Landon Fox, Grady Gingerich, Evan Phillips, Braden Hartley, Jaxsen Timmerman, Terry Bordenave, Jackson Zahradnek, Kaden Meader and Shawn Dodds. You can hear Mid-Prairie playoff football next Friday live on KCII.