Photo Courtesy of Mid-Prairie CSD Social Media
With history on the line, the No. 9 in Class 2A Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk football team travels to No. 2 Prairie City Monroe tonight for a Class 2A Quarterfinal. The Hawks are 7-3 this season, regular season district five champs and winners of seven straight, after a 35-14 win in Wellman a week ago over Mediapolis. The Hawks won total yards 378-308 and the turnover battle 3-0 with Hudson Ehrenfelt and Cash Brown interceptions and a Cobi Hershberger fumble recovery. On offense, Ehrenfelt had 157 all-purpose yards on 28 touches with a pair of scores. Brady Weber accounted for 184 yards through the air on a 9/20 night with a 79 yard touchdown throw to Kaden Kos and two rushing scores. Kos added seven tackles. Mid-Prairie is ranked No. 9 in Class 2A in the final poll of the year from the Iowa High School Athletic Association. They score 32 points per night and give up 14 with 319 yards per game 162 through the air. On the season, Weber is 116 of 187 passing, for 1,610 yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions. Blake Swart has hauled in 27 balls for 351 yards. Kos and Ace Peck have three receiving touchdowns each. Ehrenfelt has 1,585 all-purpose yards on 247 attempts with 28 total touchdowns. Defensively, Kos leads with 94 tackles, 20 for loss. Ten Hawks have a takeaway. The Golden Hawks rank in the top 10 of 2A in 17 team and individual categories.
Prairie City Monroe is 10-0 entering tonight, champions of district six. They crushed Greene County a week ago in the second round 48-6. They won total yards 378-242 including 197-68 on the ground. Gavin Van Gorp was seven of 12 passing for 171 yards and two touchdowns, including an 86-yard bomb to running back Adrien Robbins who finished with 170 all-purpose yards on 24 touches. Van Gorp also had three scores on the ground. The Mustangs won turnovers 2-0 including a Finn Wilson fumble recovery and a Keegan Fenton interception. Wilson led the way with nine stops. PCM is ranked No. 2 in Class 2A in the final poll of the season from the IAHSAA. They score 49 per game and give up eight. They roll up 427 yards per night 264 on the ground. Individually, Van Gorp is 82 of 109 for 1,438 yards, 27 touchdowns and one pick. He’s connected with Riley Graber 25 times for 591 yards and 12 touchdowns. Robbins has 201 touches for 2,112 yards and 26 touchdowns. Defensively, Wilson has 46 tackles. Twelve different Mustangs have a takeaway. The Mustangs rank in the top 10 of 2A in 23 team and individual categories. This week, KCII Sports joined Golden Hawk head coach Daren Lambert to talk about the matchup with PCM.
Lambert said, “This team is very focused and it comes from that senior leadership, especially those six senior captains. It’s been the same mindset all year, the job’s not finished. (PCM) scores a lot, and doesn’t give up a lot of scores. They brought back a lot from last year. Some dynamic receivers, an All-State running back, they are big up front on both sides of the ball. They have a quarterback that is athletic and a good decision-maker. For us, it starts with stopping their run game. We have to be assignment-sound on the defensive side of the ball. We have to gang-tackle and run our feet. Offensively, with their size, we have to run our feet, maintain blocks, find yards where we can, take calculated shots and get the ball out quick. It would be great to do something that’s never been done. These guys know what’s at stake and are preparing to get the job done. We have to go out and make that thing happen.”
The Hawks are 2-6 all-time against PCM, with their last win coming in 2015. These teams met a year ago in the second round in Monroe with the Mustangs scoring a 36-0 win. The Golden Hawks are trying to get the UNI-Dome and the State semifinals for the first time in school history, falling in their previous five attempts. This is their first quarterfinal appearance since 2008. PCM has been to the Dome five times, their last trip in 2020, with a State title in 2018. You can hear all of the action live tonight on AM 1380, FM 102.5, the KCII2 App and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Golden Hawk Football Pregame Show at 6:30 and Yotty’s Incorporated Kickoff at 7p.m. live from Monroe.