Picture Courtesy of Mid-Prairie Football Social Media
The Friday night lights will shine for the first time this season at Dwight G. Sattler Field tonight when the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks host the Wilton Beavers.
Mid-Prairie finished last season with a 6-4 record, 3-2 third place in Class 2A District 6, falling in the second round of the playoffs to Williamsburg. The Golden Hawks scored 24 points per game and gave up 23, racking up 289 yards per contest, 202 of that on the ground. The Hawks finished 2022 in the top 10 of 2A in 12 different categories. With the ball, the Hawks ran the sixth most rushing plays, and had the seventh most yards per pass completion. Individually, senior Braden Hartley was third in the state in carries, fifth in yards, eighth in yards per rush, and ninth in rushing scores. Fellow senior Cain Brown caught the sixth most touchdowns and averaged the 10th most yards per catch. On defense, the Golden Hawk secondary had the fifth most picks in 2A and forced 20 total turnovers. Brown was third in the state in interceptions and junior Dylan Henry was fourth. The Hawks had nine total All-District selections including Hartley, Brown, Kaden Meader, Jack Zahradnek, Terry Bordenave, Grady Gingerich, Jarron Thomas, Lukin Rediger and Cobi Hershberger with Thomas, Rediger and Hershberger returning. Brown and Hartley were also named All-State and wrapped up their Mid-Prairie careers in the top 10 in school history in eight different categories. The Hawks will need to replace 11 seniors including signal caller Collin Miller who accounted for just shy of 1,000 yards of offense last season and 13 touchdowns. That duty falls to junior Brady Weber who was four of nine through the air in limited action with 74 yards. Miller and Hartley combined for more than 1500 yards and 18 scores in the rush game. Stepping into that role will be a committee led by sophomore starter Hudson Ehrenfelt. The receiving corps lost it’s top two pass catchers to graduation, Brown and Grady Gingerich, who combined for 34 grabs, 628 yards and nine touchdowns. The trio of Hershberger, Ace Peck and Dylan Henry will get the call after combining for 14 catches, 205 yards and a touchdown a year ago. Defensively, the Hawks are without three of their top tacklers from last campaign with Brown, Hartley and Bordenave combining for 127 tackles, eight for loss. Hershberger and Grady Miller are the top returners after 74.5 tackles, four for loss, and four turnovers forced last season.
The Beavers are back after a 4-4 2022 that saw them fall out of the playoffs with a first round loss to West Branch. Wilton averaged 29 points per game and gave up 24 last year, rolling up 300 yards per night, 175 of that on the ground. The Beavers had a good year through the air, finishing sixth in 1A with a 63% pass completion rate, but also threw the 10th most picks. Individually, quarterback Drew Keith completed 90 passes as a sophomore 10th most, at a 63% rate, seventh highest, throwing 11 interceptions, fifth most. The Beaver defense had 15.5 sacks, 10th most. Wilton graduated seven seniors last fall, five of them linemen. Key returners include quarterback Keith who was 90 of 144 for 918 yards, 10 scores and 11 picks. His top four receivers are back with Cade Sourhada, Landyn Putman, Kale McQuillen and Owen Hassel combining for 77 catches 816 yards and eight touchdowns. On the ground, the trio of Hassel, Keith and Damian Pestle all return after a total of 240 carries, 1,307 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2022. On defense three of their top five tacklers depart. Owen Miler is back after finishing second on the team last year with 30.5 stops, nine for loss and a pair of sacks.
This week, first-year Mid-Prairie coach Daren Lambert joined KCII Sports to talk about the keys against the Beavers. Lambert said, “Be physical. I think we have some guys that run the ball extremely hard. Block well and tackle. I think those are big tone setters for us. I think we have some depth and we can really wear on teams. Physicality is going to be part of the game plan. Do your job. Whatever your assignment is. Be a champion in your role.”
These teams have not met since 2019, a 40-6 Golden Hawk win. You can hear all of the action live tonight between Mid-Prairie and Wilton on AM 1380, FM 102.5 and the KCII2 stream and app with the Golden Hawk football pregame show at 7 and kickoff of at 7:30 from Dwight G. Sattler Field in Wellman.