The No. 9 Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk football team continues their playoff push tonight, hosting the Mediapolis Bulldogs in the second round of the 2A postseason in Wellman. The Hawks are 6-3 this year, including a 35-7 first round win over Union LaPorte City at home last week. The Golden Hawks won total yards 289-184 including 127-64 through the air. Brady Weber was an efficient 13 of 18 throwing for 127 yards and two scores, one each to Ace Peck and Landon Kos. Hudson Ehrenfelt collected 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground with 28 carries. Blake Swart scooped up a fumble and raced for a touchdown. Kaden Kos had 13 tackles to lead a defense that forced two turnovers, one interception each for Gentry Bontrager and Cash Brown. Mid-Prairie comes into the game ranked No. 9 in 2A in the final poll issued by the Iowa High School Athletic Association. They have won six games in a row and were undefeated champions of District 5. The Hawks score 32 points per game and give up 14 on 312 total yards per night, 160 passing. Individually, Weber is 107 of 167 through the air for 1,426 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. Swart has 24 catches for 306 yards. Peck has three touchdown catches, Cobi Hershberger and Ehrenfelt each have two. Ehrenfelt has 1,428 all-purpose yards, on 219 touches and 26 touchdowns. Kaden Kos has 87 tackles, 18 for loss and a pair of sacks. Nine different Golden Hawks have a takeaway. The Golden Hawks rank in the top 10 of 2A this season in 13 different team and individual categories.
Mediapolis is 5-4 this season after a 21-6 win at Northeast Goose Lake. They ran for 271 yards, including 181 and two touchdowns on 29 carries for Noah Schmidgall. MEPO forced three turnovers on defense, while holding Rebel quarterback Gavin Kramer to a season low 148 all-purpose yards. The Bulldogs finished third in District five with a 3-2 record. They have won three straight. MEPO scores 28 points per night and gives up 19, on 300 yards per game 200 rushing. Individually, Reese Campbell is 60 of 113 through the air for 895 yards, seven touchdowns and eight picks. Noah Schmidgall has 207 touches for 1,535 yards and 19 touchdowns. Alton Wonderlich leads with 64 tackles, nine for loss and a sack. Fourteen different Bulldogs have a takeaway. MEPO ranks in the top 10 of 2A in 10 different team and individual categories. This week, Golden Hawk head coach Daren Lambert talked about the keys against the Bulldogs.
Lambert said, “The mentality of this group is that they have a task. They want to go accomplish that task. They have goals and they know what they need to do to make those goals happen. Now we get Mediapolis a second time around, and it’s tough to beat teams twice. Yes, we had great success against them the first time at their place, but if we are in their shoes, what’s on their mind? Coming into our place since we won the district title and knock us off. At no point in time during practice and our preparation this week have I seen any sort of mindset where we feel that we can take a break. We know that we are going to see their best, so we have to be at our best. We know that they have changed and added a few things in the last three weeks since we have seen them, so we know there is going to be some sort of wrinkle.”
Mid-Prairie leads the all-time series with MEPO at 10-5 including a 24-8 road win this season. A Golden Hawk victory moves them to the 2A quarterfinals against either No. 2 Prairie City Monroe or Greene County. 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 6:30p.m. and Yotty’s Incorporated Kickoff at 7p.m. from Dwight G. Sattler Field in Wellman.