With a playoff bid in the balance Friday at Central Lee, the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk football team delivered a 33-13 win. Central Lee started with the ball, but it was the Golden Hawks that started fast. A fumble on the fifth play of the game was picked up by safety Dylan Henry. Just three plays later, Mid-Prairie had covered 43 yards to the end zone, all through running back Hudson Ehrenfelt, the last a one yard scoring plunge to put the Golden Hawks up 7-0. In the second frame, Mid-Prairie doubled their lead, finishing a 12 play, 84 yard march with a four yard Ehrenfelt scoring jaunt to go on top 14-0. Mid-Prairie made it 21-0 late in the second frame when quarterback Brady Weber connected with H-Back Kaden Kos on a 41-yard touchdown toss. That’s where the lead would stand at the break.

In the second half, The Golden Hawks marched 61 yards on six plays with their first possession, as Ehrenfelt ran in from three yards out for his third touchdown to push the margin to 27-0. The two teams would trade touchdowns on the homestretch. Kegan Damico got Central Lee on the board at 27-6 when he hauled in a lateral and took it six yards for six. Mid-Prairie answered with Ehrenfelt’s fourth scoring run of the night, a seven yarder, to finish an eight play 57 yard drive to make it 33-6 and Cory Jones struck with a big play for Central Lee late, racing 77 yards for a touchdown to reach the final count. After the contest, Golden Hawk head coach Daren Lambert talked about his team’s work on both sides of the ball, individual standouts and what lies ahead. Lambert said, “On offense in the first half we were able to mix up our tempo, go fast and dictate the game. We made some big plays. We got the job done by finishing drives. The offensive line had an amazing game up front. We challenged them and said, ‘This game is going to be on you’, and you could tell they came ready to go. On defense, we did a great job stopping them on first down. Pressure on the quarterback was important. We got an interception off of it, and another turnover. We were making plays on that side of the ball. Hudson (Ehrenfelt) got rushing touchdowns and was able to grind it out on the ground. He did a great job. On the touchdown pass, Brady (Weber) did a great job getting the ball out quick. Kaden (Kos) catching it and taking it to the house. Grady Miller made some tough catches on the sideline and third down. Really pleased with all of the receiving corps tonight. Conner (Wiles) did a great job stepping up on defense tonight. We said it right to the guys in the post game tonight, we have a lot to play for. You enjoy tonight, but then you have to do your homework over the weekend and come back on Monday ready to go because we want that home playoff game.”

Unofficial totals saw Mid-Prairie outgain Central Lee 359 to 267. Ehrenfelt had 218 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns on 22 touches. Weber was eight of 14 through the air for 133 yards and a touchdown to Kos. Grady Miller hauled in four passes for 29 yards. The Mid-Prairie defense racked up six sacks, The Golden Hawks had two takeaways, with corner Landon Sullivan snagging his first interception to go with Henry’s fumble recovery. The win moves Mid-Prairie to 3-4 on the year, 3-1 in district, and locks up a playoff bid. Central Lee is now 3-4 overall 0-4 in district and eliminated from postseason contention. Mid-Prairie returns home Friday for Senior Night against Albia, where the winner secures the two seed and home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.