The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk football team looks to keep their season going Friday when they host River Valley Conference rival Tipton in the second round of the class 2A playoffs. Mid-Prairie comes into tonight after a 49-7 win over Central Lee last week in their playoff opener. Mid-Prairie was led in the game by Kayden Renier with 12 carries for 165 yards and four touchdowns. The Golden Hawks come into the contest with an overall record of 4-3. On the season they are led by Reinier with 124 carries 1,190 yards and 17 touchdowns. His yards total is sixth in 2A, his touchdown total is second. Through the air, Vinny Bowlin is 51 of 111 for 787 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions. His favorite target in the passing game is Cain Brown with 13 catches for 168 yards and a touchdown. The Golden Hawk defense is led by Justice Jones with 56 and a half tackles.

Tipton is also 4-3 on the year. They were winners in the opening round of the postseason last Friday over Eddyville-Blakesburg 49-14 behind 129 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns from Levi Daniel. On the season the Tigers are led by Payten Elijah with 961 yards and 13 touchdowns on 103 carries. Through the air Elijah is 17 of 61 for 172 yards, a pair of touchdowns and five interceptions. His favorite target is Caden Schmidt with six catches for 33 yards and a touchdown. Defenisvely, Tipton is led by Kaleb Nerem with 40 and a half tackles. This week, Mid-Prairie head coach Pete Cavanagh talked about what makes Tipton tough. “They’re a really good team. I wish our fans could see the film that we see on all of these teams every week. This is a team that’s very physical. This is the third or fourth time we are going to see the single wing this year. They give a little different dynamic with that in their quarterback, he’s a heck of a player. They’re tough on both sides of the ball and they go to the whistle. They are a mirror image of us in some ways. Good running game, good tough solid defense. Should be a great game to watch. We have been in a few dogfights with some good teams this year, Sigourney, Belle Plaine and Williamsburg. Ultimately in those games we just didn’t make enough plays. This is an opponent that’s as good as some of those teams especially in the run game. We have to be able to identify what they are doing and stop it. We need to play some physical football. It’s a challenge to our guys. They need to be up for it and I believe they will.”

These two teams last met in 2013 when Mid-Prairie scored a 21-14 win on the road. You can hear all of the action live tonight between the Golden Hawks and the Tigers  beginning with the Washington HyVee pregame show at 6:30 and kickoff at 7p.m. from Dwight G. Sattler Field in Wellman.