The moment was powerful.

And it spoke loudly.

After Mid-Prairie had its football season ended on the last Friday night in October by the top team in Iowa on its home turf in Williamsburg, the Golden Hawks gathered for one final postgame huddle following a 63-7 loss.

And then, they hugged.

The team’s senior teammates went from player to player, from classmate to classmate, hugging as if it was graduation day and they were never going to see each other again.

Their postseason fate was pretty much sealed the day the Class 2A playoff brackets came out. If the Golden Hawks won their first playoff game, which they did, the reward was a rematch against district powerhouse Williamsburg. The Raiders remain unbeaten. Mid-Prairie has been the only one to score a touchdown on them in the postseason. They’re on a march toward a state championship. Clearly.

And that’s what made the Golden Hawks’ senior moment so special, really. They knew it was coming. But there was also that final moment. What can you say?

“I know all the senior classes say their group was different or special,” said Cain Brown, a senior receiver and kicker, “but something about these guys, I just love them.”

First, the Golden Hawks gathered around a state playoff plaque, an award for reaching the round of 16, for photo opps.

And then it was each other.

Beefy handshakes were replaced by bear hugs and tears.

“You’ve got them over here, they’re all in a huddle by themselves right now, they love each other,” Brown said. “We play for each other. Every down, every play, every game of the season. We played for each other.”

There were the guys who ran the offense, Brown and quarterback Collin Miller and running back Braden Hartley.

And then there’s Jaxsen Timmerman, an offensive and defensive lineman who emotionally went from senior to senior to say not goodbye, but thanks.

And Kaden Meader, who took on cross country last year in addition to football. And Jackson Zahradnek, a 5-foot-7 260-pound lineman who scored his only high school touchdown, while cheered on by his senior teammates, in the late moments of a 51-0 victory over Central Lee.

And punter Shawn Dodds, the tallest Golden Hawk at 6-4. And Grady Gingerich and Evan Phillips and Terry Bordenave.

As the senior fest carried on, head coach Pete Cavanagh stood back and watched proudly. A year ago, he was the senior dad, watching his son, Will Cavanagh, play his last football game for the Golden Hawks. This time around was no less emotional. In a way, they weren’t Golden Hawk footballers. They were just Golden Hawks.

“Our seniors are great,” Cavanagh said. “Really good leadership all year. To me, that’s what it’s all about. Improving these kids, sending them out in the world as better men. I think that was accomplished.”

Oh, the memories.

This group of seniors ended their careers with a piece of Mid-Prairie history. They won 22 games in four years. They scored two shutout wins this year. They never had a losing season, ending the best four-year stretch in nearly 10 years at Mid-Prairie.

After football, there will be other things. Basketball. Track. Baseball. Senior prom. Graduation.

Before football, there were other things.

“Throughout our whole lives, we played for each other,” Brown said. “I just couldn’t ask for a better squad to play with. I love every one of these guys.”

And that’s why, on a football Friday night in Williamsburg, as Raider players were ringing their victory bell behind the end zone, the Golden Hawks had a magical moment of their own.

News columnist Paul Bowker can be reached at bowkerpaul1@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @bowkerpaul.