Photo Courtesy of Jeff Yoder
The No. 9 Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk football team cruised into the quarterfinals of the Class 2A playoffs with a 35-14 second round home win over Mediapolis Friday. The offenses for both sides owned action in the first half. The Golden Hawks took the ball 65 yards on five plays on their first possession, the final 55 on an electrifying Hudson Ehrenfelt touchdown run to lead 7-0. Mediapolis matched it on their first trip, going 65 yards on 10 plays, finishing with a Reece Campbell touchdown pass to Gannon Gunn to tie things at seven. Four plays later, the Hawks see-sawed on top when Brady Weber went up top to Kaden Kos for a highlight reel 83 yard scoring connection to make it 14-7.
The first defensive highlight came on the ensuing kickoff when Ryan Henry jarred the ball loose from Noah Schmidgall and it was recovered by Shay Myers to set up Mid-Prairie’s next score. A grinding eight play, 13-yard drive doubled the Hawk’s lead when Weber plunged in from one yard out to go up 21-7. Schmidgall and the Bulldogs struck back quickly, first play from scrimmage next drive, he sprinted 76 yards through the Golden Hawk defense for a touchdown to cut the lead to 21-14. The scoring flurry continued with Mid-Prairie’s next possession, a nine play 65 yard march, ending in Ehrenfelt’s second scoring run of the night to make it 28-14, and that’s where things would stand at the half.
Defenses dictated things after intermission, with the Hawks shutting out MEPO in the second and allowing the Bulldogs just 90 yards. Mid-Prairie marched the ball 11 and 13 plays respectively on their first drives which ended on downs. Mediapolis had two drives end in punts before Ehrenfelt stopped the third with a pick, his second of the year. That turnover turned into the only points after break, a nine play 55 yard drive, which Weber put in the end zone with his second touchdown run. The icing on the cake was Mid-Prairie’s final stop, a Cash Brown interception that gave the Golden Hawks their second ever, second round playoff win. After the game, Mid-Prairie quarterback Brady Weber joined the KCII locker room show to talk about the win, what it means to the program, and credit his teammates.
Weber said, “The coaches put together a great offensive gameplan. The offensive line did a great job making holes for Hudson (Ehrenfelt), great pass protection, I really had all day to throw. Receivers did a great job getting open. (On the touchdown throw), that one felt pretty good. Kaden (Kos) ran a great route. When you throw a ball up there to 31, he’s usually coming down with it and making a play. (At first), I was like alright great catch first down, and then I see him keep running! He’s such a playmaker. You really can’t double or triple any of the guys we’ve got in the receiving corps, or Hudson, because we’ve got so many weapons. I couldn’t be more proud of the guys. On defense, Tatem Telfer had a great game on the defensive line. That spin move is pretty good, I like that! You always know Kaden, Cobi (Hershberger), our linebackers, Conner (Wiles) are so good. The defensive backs played so well tonight, they’re all quick. Ace (Peck) almost came down with that pick. Blake Swart has also done a great job as a coverage linebacker. They’re great tacklers. They fly to the ball. The seniors aren’t ready to be done yet. Our preseason goals, were district champions, home playoff game and now we’ve got that next one in sight, the Dome.”
The Hawks won total yards 415-308 including 142-81 through the air. Ehrenfelt had 28 touches, 161 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. Weber was nine of 19 throwing for 142 yards and a score to Kaden Kos. Weber added two rushing touchdowns. Defensively, the Golden Hawks were led by Kos with nine stops, Quinn Callahan had six and Telfer two sacks for a loss of 31 yards. Mid-Prairie won the turnover battle 3-0 with takeaways from Myers, Ehrenfelt and Brown. Mediapolis was led by 280 all-purpose yards and a touchdown for Schmidgall. MEPO ends their season at 5-5. Mid-Prairie advances to the 2A Quarterfinals for the first time since 2008 and will play for a spot at the UNI-Dome Friday when they travel to unbeaten No. 2 Prairie City Monroe.