Photo Courtesy of Iconic Media (Jeff Yoder)
The top-five Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk football team returns home tonight to host Central Lee in their annual Homecoming game. The Golden Hawks were a 35-21 winner last week at West Liberty, scoring 21 straight fourth quarter points to pull away for the win. Brooks Weber was 17 of 21 through the air for 230 yards and a touchdown connection with Kale Miller. Carson Humphrey, Ryan Henry and Miller each caught five passes with Humphrey going for 107 yards. Henry rushed for 98 yards on 19 carries with a pair of touchdowns and Tommy Miller found the end zone twice from the backfield. Caedyn Huston had a team best six tackles and Humphrey recovered a fumble. Mid-Prairie enters tonight’s game at 4-1 on the year and 2-0 in Class 2A District 6. The Golden Hawks are ranked No. 4 in the latest Class 2A poll from IAFootball.com. This year, Mid-Prairie scores 33 points per game and gives up 28 on 336 yards per night 245 through the air and 91 on the ground with a +5 turnover margin. Individually, Weber is 39 of 126 for 1,219 yards, 13 touchdowns and three interceptions. His top target is Kale Miller with 22 catches for 198 yards and three scores. Humphrey has a team best 308 yards with three touchdowns. Kendrick Kos leads with four scoring grabs and Nolan Jergens has caught multiple touchdowns. Henry has 78 carries 358 yards and six touchdowns rushing. Cecil Kelley is the team leader with 35 tackles. The Golden Hawks rank in the top 10 of Class 2A football in 23 different categories. As a team, Mid-Prairie leads the state in pass completion percentage and passing yards, second in scoring throws, third in total completions and defensive interceptions, fourth in fumble recoveries, fifth in QBR, seventh in total touchdowns and pass attempts and 10th in sacks and turnover margin. Individually, Weber leads Class 2A in completion percentage, passing yards, passing touchdowns and QBR. He is third in completions, fourth in total touchdowns, fifth in pass attempts and sixth in total yards. Kos is fourth in touchdown catches, Henry is seventh in rushing touchdowns, Kale Miller is 10th in total catches.
Central Lee enters play with a 2-3 overall record. They are winless in district after a 42-22 loss to West Burlington Notre Dame a week ago. In the setback, they were led by Brett Cook with 189 all-purpose yards and three rushing scores on offense. He also accounted for 12 tackles, two for loss and an interception on defense. This year the Hawks score 21 points per game and give up 26 on 239 yards per night, 147 on the ground and 88 through the air and an even turnover margin. Individual leaders are Cook at 21 of 49 throwing for 370 yards, a touchdown and four interceptions. Carson Morrison and Evan Fogarty have each caught seven passes for a total of 310 yards, and a touchdown each. Cook is also the leader on the ground with 64 rushes for 301 yards and seven touchdowns. The top tackler for Central Lee is also Cook with 45 total stops. Central Lee ranks in the top 10 of Class 2A football in five different categories. As a team, they are second in interceptions, third in fumble recoveries and ninth in total tackles. Individually Cook is sixth in the state in rushing scores and 10th in total touchdowns. This week, Mid-Prairie head coach Daren Lambert talked with KCII Sports about the keys to a Week six win. “They are a team that is looking to find ways to be successful. Offensively, they run a triple option, so that presents a unique offense that means we have to play assignment football. They’re going to read defensive ends and linebackers. Then when we’re on offense, we have had success against them in the past, so we have to expect some scheme changes from their defense. For us the focus is making strides forward. It’s Homecoming week so we want to stay focused, execute and put on a good show. We need to control the controlables, our effort, our discipline, force turnovers and get explosives on our offensive end. We have done a good job of that the last few weeks.”
Mid-Prairie is 15-2 all-time against Central Lee. The Golden Hawks have won the last nine in the series by a 412 to 49 total, including 56-0 last season. You can hear all of the Homecoming action live tonight on AM 1380, FM 102.5, the KCII2 App and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the La Morenitas Golden Hawk Football Pregame Show at 6:30p.m. And kickoff between the Golden Hawks and Hawks at seven at Dwight G. Sattler Field in Wellman.