The top 10 Class 2A football showdown Friday between No. 8 Mid-Prairie and No. 9 Alburnett at Jim Carver Field lived up to the hype, with the Pirates scoring a 42-37 win on their home turf. In a game heard on KCII, Alburnett started fast, sprinting to a 14-0 lead with touchdowns on their first two trips with the ball as Laken Caves found the end zone on his first play from 70 yards and finished a four play 43-yard drive with a 36 yard rush to make it 14-0. The Hawks got on the board with a sustained 12 play 65 yard drive that ended on a key fourth down 10 yard touchdown throw from Brooks Weber to Nolan Jergens. Mid-second quarter, Caves hit a 30 yard punt return and two rushes later found pay dirt from seven yards out to make it 21-7. The Golden Hawks got 10 straight, a 43-yard Kale Miller field goal, and a Weber to Carson Humphrey 27 yard connection brought Mid-Prairie within 21-17 at half.

Out of the locker room, Caves continued his magic against the Mid-Prairie defense, a 40 yard scamper finished a 46 yard drive in the end zone to put the Pirates back up 28-17. Action picked up from there with a stretch of three touchdowns in three snaps with a turnover mixed in. Momentum turned the Hawks way, a 13 play 63-yard march found the end zone when Weber connected with Hudson Ehrenfelt on a 15-yard wheel-fade to pull the Golden Hawks back within five. Ensuing kickoff, Caves had the ball jarred out and the Hawks Josh Turner jumped on it at the 12. Next play Ehrenfelt flew around right end to the end zone to give Mid-Prairie their first lead at 31-28 after the two from Weber to Jergens. The next Pirate play, 80 more yards for Caves and six more points, 35-31 Alburnett. That’s where things stood to the final two minutes. Late in the fourth, the Golden Hawks moved the ball 74 yards on 15 plays to take the lead at 37-35 when Kaden Kos pulled in a four yarder from Weber. Alburnett’s answer came 54 seconds later on what would be the game winner, a nine yard scoring toss from Brody Kaestner to Owen Henriksen at 42-37. Mid-Prairie got the ball back with a minute left, their final drive, which included a pair of long fourth down conversions was stopped on the Pirate 32. After the game, Golden Hawk head coach Daren Lambert talked about his team’s effort and standouts.

Lambert said, “Our defense started slowing them down when we were maintaining our contain, running our feet through the tackle, really doing the simple things consistently. Credit to him, (Caves) he had a heck of a night. We saw some things in our passing game that we could exploit. Hudson’s (Ehrenfelt) is going to demand a lot of attention and we did put up some points, but the biggest issue we had were the self-inflicted wounds. We had missed assignments early and gave them the lead, but also, penalties put us in a difficult spot. Hudson made some great catches, Humphrey made catches, Jergens, Kaden (Kos), all the guys. Brooks (Weber) did a great job of taking what the defense gave him. He took some shots. He kept getting back up and fighting. It’s his second varsity game, but I just see him as that veteran-type guy, with the poise and leadership that he has. Credit to our guys up front for the protection. On special teams, Kale (Miller) did a great job kicking, as did Kendrick (Kos). Guys competed and that’s what we ask for.”

Unofficially, Mid-Prairie won total yards 415-400. The Golden Hawks won the turnover battle two to one with Turner’s fumble recovery and a pick from Gentry Bontrager. Top Hawks included Brooks Weber 21 of 41 throwing for 302 yards and four scores. He tossed a touchdown each to Kos, Ehrenfelt, Humphrey and Jergens. Ehrenfelt had a rushing score and a receiving score with 155 all-purpose yards on 29 touches, including 92 yards on six catches. Kos had 11 tackles, four for loss to lead the defense. Caves finished with 342 all-purpose yards and five rushing scores on 25 touches. Alburnett moves to 2-0 as Mid-Prairie falls to 1-1. The Hawks are back home next week to host Sigourney-Keota for Homecoming.