Photo Courtesy of Mid-Prairie CSD Social Media (Dain Jeppson)
The more things change, the more they stay the same. It’s playoff time in southeast Iowa and for the fourth straight season, the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks find themselves in the Class 2A field. For the third straight year, they are matching up with the Northeast Goose Lake Rebels in their second season opener. The Hawks are 4-4 on the year and finished as 4-1 runners-up in Class 2A District 5. Mid-Prairie scored a Senior Night win in Wellman a week ago, 42-22, over the Albia Blue Demons to secure home field advantage in the first round. Quarterback Brady Weber put together one of the best performances in school history, going 15 of 20 through the air, for 264 yards, and a school record tying six touchdown tosses, two each to Dylan Henry and Kaden Kos, and one each to Grady Miller and Hudson Ehrenfelt. The 80 yard connection with Kos was the sixth longest passing touchdown in school history. Ehrenfelt added a rushing touchdown and 237 all-purpose yards. Defensively, the Hawks piled up nine tackles for loss, and three takeaways, a pick each for Henry, Landon Sullivan and Lukin Rediger. This season, the Golden Hawks score 27 points per game and give up 25 to go with 338 yards per game on offense, 169 in the each of the pass and run games. Weber is 98 of 161 in the aerial attack for 1,300 yards, 15 touchdowns and five picks. His top target is Cobi Hershberger with 25 grabs for 305 yards and a score. Hudson Ehrenfelt has 1,627 all-purpose yards, 999 on the ground on 164 carries with 11 rushing scores. Defensively, the Golden Hawks have nine takeaways and are led by Kos with 59 tackles. Mid-Prairie ranks in the top 10 of 2A in 10 different team and individual stat categories.
Northeast Goose Lake comes into the night with a matching 4-4 overall record after finishing at 3-2, third in Class 2A District 6. They scored a 12-7 win over Anamosa last week despite being outgained 334-79 in total yards. On the season Northeast averages and gives up 27 points per game. They post 317 yards of offense 168 through the air. Individually, Gavin Kramer runs the show on offense with 2,321 all-purpose yards. Through the air he’s 94 of 175 for 1,344 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. On the ground he has 136 carries for 937 yards and 11 scores. Colby Gray has 27 catches for 364 yards and four scores to lead the receivers. On defense, Clayton Meyermann leads with 48 tackles and the Rebels have nine takeaways as a team. Northeast ranks in the top 10 of 2A in eight different team and individual stat categories. This week, Mid-Prairie head coach Daren Lambert talked at practice about his team delivering against Albia to clinch home field, the matchup with Northeast and what they have seen on film, the team mentality at playoff time and keys to a win. Lambert said, “(Against Albia), they answered the call. We challenged them. We said here’s what’s on the line, a home playoff game. We started the game quick and that continued throughout the entire game. It was Senior Night to top it all off. They’re smart kids. They know what’s on the line. If you don’t come out and perform, you know what can happen. They can end your season. This will be the third year in a row we’ve seen them. They’ve had the same quarterback. He’s a dynamic player. He has the most passing attempts obviously, but also the most rushing attempts. He’s going to scramble around and try to find an open guy or he may tuck it and go if he sees a window. Defense has got to finish the play. Offensively, we want to be balanced. When you beat a team and end their season two years straight, they are going to be hungry to come and return the favor to us.”
The Hawks are 4-0 all-time against Northeast Goose Lake including 2-0 in the playoffs, beating the Rebels each of the last two postseasons. You can hear all of the action between the Hawks and Rebels live tonight from Dwight G. Sattler Field on AM 1380, FM 102.5, the KCII2 App and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk Football Pregame Show at 6:30 and kickoff at 7p.m.