Photo Courtesy of Mid-Prairie Football Social Media/Dillon Poole
Tonight, the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks take the field in Wellman under the bright Homecoming lights against West Burlington Notre Dame. The Hawks enter play in search of their first win of the season after starting 0-3 with losses to Wilton, Regina and Sigourney Keota. In last week’s game at the Snake Pit in Sigourney, the Golden Hawks fell in a 41-35 shoot out, outgained 446-279 in total yards. Golden Hawk signal caller Brady Weber was 16 of 32 for 200 yards and four passing touchdowns, connecting twice with Dylan Henry for scores and once each with Cobi Hershberger and Kaden Kos. Henry led the way with 89 receiving yards. Hudson Ehrenfelt finished the night with 156 all purpose yards, including a 77 yard kickoff return for touchdown. The Golden Hawks average 258 yards per night, 148 on the ground and have a -3 turnover margin. Individual leaders include Weber, 40 of 73 through the air for 413 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions. Hudson Ehrenfelt has 503 all-purpose yards, 239 rushing on 52 carries, nine grabs for 87 yards through the air and 177 in the return game including a touchdown. Cobi Hershberger has 13 catches for 149 yards and a score. Dylan Henry has caught three scoring passes. Kaden Kos has made 29 tackles. Grady Miller and Kurt Schneider have each recovered a fumble. Quinn Callahan has a punt block.
West Burlington Notre Dame is 2-1 this year, opening with wins over Mt. Pleasant and Wapello before a 27-7 loss to West Liberty last week. Against the Comets they were outgained 335-181 in total yards including 220-86 through the air. Quarterback Caden Schwenker had 155 all-purpose yards and Emry Watson nine tackles. The Falcons average 33 points per game and give up 20. They post 320 yards per game, 208 on the ground and 112 through the air while owning a +6 turnover margin. Individual leaders for Notre Dame include Schwenker at 20 for 37 through the air for 334 yards three touchdowns and an interception. Schwenker and Quincy Collins have split time equally on the ground, accounting for 69 carries, 592 yards and seven scores. Tight end Dylan Kipp has four catches for 101 yards. Watson leads the defense with 28 tackles. This week, Mid-Prairie head football coach Daren Lambert talked about his team’s steps forward through the non-district schedule, specifically Sigourney-Keota, their preparation for West Burlington and his keys to the Hawk’s first win. Lambert said, “You reassess after last week. Some big plays put you in a tough spot, but at the same time, we created some big plays, something we had been searching for on the offensive side of the ball. We played well in different moments and responded to adversity. We had a group of guys that continued to fight. On offense from quarterback and receiver we had guys making great plays. On defense, it was 41 points, but during different times when we had to make plays, guys stepped up. Their scoring mostly came on big plays with just one or two guys out of position. There were a lot of plays where we stopped them for no gain. We just have to limit those big plays. In the return game, our two deep guys are both sophomores and they do a great job of reading blocks, while the guys up front do a great job of getting blocks. West Burlington has a pretty good quarterback and running back combo. We saw them at the beginning of last year. They like to spread things out to run the football. For us it’s about doing your job and being physical, and those things have gotten better each week. For us, it’s about putting all of the puzzle pieces together for a complete game.”
Mid-Prairie has never lost to the Falcons, standing at 10-0 all-time including a 28-18 road win last year. The Golden Hawks will also honor their 2008 state quarterfinalist and district championship team tonight. You can hear all of the action live on AM 1380, FM 102.5, the KCII2 app and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Mid-Prairie football pregame show at 7p.m. and kickoff at 7:30 from Dwight G. Sattler Field in Wellman.