WELLMAN

A rematch was on the docket for the Golden Hawks as they hosted district rival Mediapolis in the second round of the postseason.

The Bulldogs aimed to reverse their fortune against the Hawks, but this sequel followed the path of its predecessor, with Mid-Prairie once again coming out on top.

Making big plays on offense when needed and pitching a three-quarter shut-out, Mid-Prairie took a 35-14 playoff victory over Mediapolis on Nov. 1 to advance to the 2A state quarterfinals for the first time since 2008.

“Anytime you get a playoff win, it’s exciting. We preached and talked about it all week. [Mediapolis] a great coached football team. We knew it was going to be a tough game. It was a tough game,” Mid-Prairie football head coach Darren Lambert said. “Just extremely proud and it’s exciting to get that second playoff win at home.”

The fireworks began early with Mid-Prairie scoring on their first drive of the game. Finding an opening in the Mediapolis defense and bursting through, Hudson Ehrenfelt went 55-yards to the house for the game’s first touchdown and it wouldn’t be his last.

Matching Mid-Prairie’s offensive efforts, the Bulldogs tied the game on their first drive of the game, a passing TD from Reece Cambell to Gannon Gunn.

Punching right back, the Hawks scored again on another highlight play, a 78-yard TD hauled in by Kaden Kos from Brady Weber. This was Kos’ third receiving TD of the year and his longest of the season. On the night Kos led the Hawks in receiving yards (96 on two receptions) and total tackles (6.5).

“You got great players on offense that go back and make plays for you and put you in positions to be successful,” coach Lambert said about the Mid-Prairie offense.

The outstanding Kos TD made it 14-7 in Mid-Prairie’s favor and a fumble by the Bulldogs on the ensuing kick-off (punched out by Ryan Henry and recovered by Cobi Hershberger) gave the Hawks excellent field position. 

Not wasting this golden opportunity, the Hawks found the endzone for the third time in the first quarter and this time it was run in by Weber.

“Anytime you can get turnovers, but especially in your own red zone, and you can go in and you obviously just kicked off because you scored, and now you can go and get another quick score, and that’s a 14-point swing,” coach Lambert said about the Henry turnover that allowed the team to score again. “And those can be very difficult for teams, especially when they’re facing a great defense like ours.

While the optics of turning the ball over and allowing 14 straight points isn’t ideal by any means, to the Bulldogs credit they fired back right away when Noah Schmidgall got loose for an explosive 76-yard rushing TD to cut the deficit to a single score.

A total of five TDs being scored in the first quarter alone gave the impression this postseason game had the potential to turn into a real barn burner but from the second quarter on, the Mid-Prairie defense did not allow any more points.

“It’s one of those things they’ll always come around. It may look a little uneasy at times, but it’s that bend don’t break mentality. It’s kind of cliche, but it’s truly who they are, and they hold each other accountable,” coach Lambert said about Mid-Prairie’s defense.

“There’s some things that we had to adjust. Guys had to make some plays and didn’t in their first couple drives when [Mediapolis] got their 14, but once you can see our defense start to hum, it’s quite a sight to see. Defensively, just very proud of them. And when you only give up two scores, it makes the job easy,

After a high scoring first quarter, the second quarter only featured one score, a rushing TD by Ehrenfelt. The standout junior continued to impress, ending the game with a team leading 137 rushing yards on 27 carries, two TDs, 20 receiving yards on one reception, and nabbing one interception.

After a scoreless third quarter by both teams, Weber scored his second rushing TD of the night in the fourth to bring the game to its final score of 35-14.

Weber threw for 184 yards, completing nine passes on 20 attempts, and no INTs. The fourth quarter also saw Ehrenfelt’s INT along with a INT by Cash Brown, making it back-to-back games Brown has snagged an INT.

“Impact plays, and that’s what we talked about in playoff games. You got to go make things happen,” coach Lambert said. “You can’t wait around. It’s all three phases, offense, defense and special teams and you saw it once again tonight.”

With the win Mid-Prairie improves its record to 7-3, the most wins for the program since 2015. What made the win even sweeter was getting to send off the seniors, playing in their final home game as a Golden Hawk, with a victory.

“It’s exciting for these seniors. We talked about cherishing the walk down the hill as you enter the field. Take it all in. You know that that’s quite a way to finish out your senior career on your home field,” coach Lambert said. “Just extremely proud of the guys. We talked about success has to be earned, and they’ve done that throughout the season and throughout the off season. Couldn’t be more proud of them.”

With the right to go to the dome on the line, up next for Mid-Prairie (7-3) is going on the road to take on the PCM Mustangs (10-0) in the 2A state quarterfinals on Nov. 8. This a rematch from a year ago, where the Hawks fell to the Mustangs in the second round of the playoffs.

“We saw him last year. They return a lot, but you know, those moments of adversity teach you a lot, and a lot of the guys that were with us last year are here with us again,” coach Lambert said about facing PCM again in the postseason. 

"We want another shot at it. We know it’s gonna be a challenge, and every playoff game is a challenge, but you get another shot at a team, and you got to take advantage of it. You’re one win away from going to the dome and that’s something that we’ve talked about since the middle of June.”