Photo Courtesy of Hudl
The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk football team takes the first step into the 2A postseason tonight when they welcome the Northeast Goose Lake Rebels to Dwight G. Sattler Field in Wellman. The Hawks come into the night with a 5-3 overall record, finishing 4-1 in district play to take the runner-up spot in class 2A district six. A week ago, Mid-Prairie went on the road and beat Davis County 49-32 in a game that decided homefield advantage in round one. The Golden Hawks are averaging 371 yards per game, 230 of that on the ground. They have a +7 turnover margin, score 41 points per game and give up 20. Individually, they are led through the air by Will Cavanagh at 72 of 111 for a 65% completion percentage, best in 2A with 952 yards for 12 touchdowns, eighth most in the state, and three interceptions. He has the ninth best quarterback rating in 2A. Tyler Helmuth leads the Hawks on the ground with 70 carries for 629 yards. His nine yards per carry average is sixth in Iowa, his 15 touchdowns are fifth most. The Golden Hawk receiving corps is led by Jack Pennington with 27 grabs for 299 yards and three touchdowns. Defensively, Justice Jones has 55 tackles, 10 and a half for loss.
Northeast Goose Lake comes in with a 4-4 overall record, they finished 3-2, third place in class 2A district five. Last week, the Rebels were beaten on their Senior Night by No. 13 Monticello 34-14. Northeast is averaging 311 yards per game, 177 of that through the air. They score 29 points per game on average and give up 29. They have a +16 turnover margin with their 25 total takeaways leading 2A. Individually, the Rebels are led by freshman quarterback Gavin Kramer through the air with his fifth in the state 113 completions in 184 attempts, his 61% completion percentage, fourth in the state for 1,412 total yards, ninth most, eight touchdowns and four interceptions. He also leads the Rebel ground game with 144 carries for 676 yards and 13 touchdowns. His favorite target is Cade Hughes with 41 catches, eighth in 2A for 627 yards and two touchdowns. Hughes leads the Rebel defense with 49 and a half tackles. This week, Mid-Prairie head coach Pete Cavanagh talked about the Rebels and his keys to a win. “I don’t think we have played them since 2017, and they were good then as a spread attacking offense. Their quarterback is a young kid but he’s got a lot of yards and great production. It’s going to be very similar for our defense to the last two weeks. They run a 3-5 defense that’s been inconsistent. At times they have had success, other games they have given up big numbers. Tonight, we can’t turn it over. Special teams have to play big because they do some funky stuff. Just play good, solid, Mid-Prairie football.”
The Golden Hawks have won the only two meetings between these two teams, beating the Rebels 62-22 in 2016 and 28-6 in 2017. The winner of this game moves on to the round of 16 in the class 2A playoffs. You can hear all of the action live tonight between the Hawks and Rebels on AM 1380, FM 102.5 and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Washington HyVee Pregame Show at 6:30 and kickoff at 7p.m.