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Photo Courtesy of Jeff Yoder

The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk football team begins their playoff journey tonight at home, hosting the Knights of Union, La Porte City in the first round of the Class 2A postseason. The Golden Hawks are 5-3 on the year, undefeated champions of Class 2A, District 5, after a 42-7 win at Albia last week. The Hawks won the total yards battle 250-84, including 179-23 on the ground. Hudson Ehrenfelt finished with 143 rushing yards on 29 carries with three touchdowns. Brady Weber was 10 of 18 throwing for 71 yards, adding a pair of rushing scores. Tatem Telfer caught eight passes for 46 yards and had a rushing touchdown. Golden Hawk returners Cash Brown and Kaden Kos piled up more than 150 yards. Conner Wiles led the defense with seven tackles. The Golden Hawks come into the game ranked No. 9 in Class 2A in the latest poll from the Iowa High School Athletic Association. On the year, the Golden Hawks score 31 points per game and give up 15, putting up 315 yards per night, 163 through the air and 152 on the ground. Weber is 94 of 149 passing for 1,299 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions. His top target is Telfer with 22 grabs for 220 yards. Ehrenfelt, Ace Peck and Cobi Hershberger have each caught two touchdowns. Ehrenfelt has 1,328 all-purpose yards, 1,079 rushing on 170 carries with 22 running scores. Kaden Kos leads the defense with 75 total tackles, 17 for loss. Seven different Golden Hawks have recorded a takeaway this year. Mid-Prairie ranks in the top 10 of 2A in 14 different team and individual categories.

Union, La Porte City is 3-5 overall and finishing in fourth place at 2-3 in Class 2A District 6. They dropped their regular season finale last week to West Marshall 14-0. The Knights were outgained 244-118 in total including 147-42 on the ground, losing the turnover battle 3-0. Andrew Sadler was six of 19 with 76 yards and two interceptions, Caden Sorenson and Justice Luke had four catches combined for 41 yards, Sorenson also led with 41 more yards on the ground on 10 touches and 11 tackles on defense. As a team this year, the Knights score 14 per game and give up 22 on 237 total yards, 135 through the air. Individually, Sadler is 65 of 137 throwing this season for 958 yards, four touchdowns and eight picks. Justice Luke has 24 catches for 417 yards and a pair of scores. Luke and Sorenson have combined on the ground for 66 carries 370 yards and five touchdowns. Sorenson leads with 36 tackles. Seven different Knights have a takeaway. Union ranks in the top 10 of 2A in sacks. This week, Golden Hawk head coach Daren Lambert talked about the keys against Union.

Lambert said, “We haven’t seen any common opponents or anyone through district play. When you have that you gauge things since you have seen the other team they’re playing. There are certain tendencies you have to pick up each week. In this case you have to dig in a little bit more. They are athletic. They play in a tough district. They have been a successful program. They have a few seniors on the perimeter and have some big guys up front. They present a balanced attack on offense. They like to throw it deep but also like to run heavy with some different formations. We have to be prepared for that. This time of year comes down to preparation and how we handle Monday through Thursday.”

These two schools have never met on the field and played no like opponents during the year. The winner of this game moves on to the second round of the 2A postseason next week. You can hear all of the action live tonight between the Golden Hawks and Knights on AM 1380, FM 102.5, the KCII2 App and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Golden Hawk Football Pregame Show at 6:30p.m. and kickoff at 7 from Dwight G. Sattler Field in Wellman.