It was a hot, sultry evening at Mid-Prairie High School last Friday. While it wasn’t weather typi…

By Sports Dept.

It was a hot, sultry evening at Mid-Prairie High School last Friday. While it wasn’t weather typical of football, usually played in the crisp autumn air, it was a perfect night for a backyard-style barbecue. On this night, however, there were both.

Friday was “Meet the Hawks” night at Mid-Prairie, offering dinner and the opportunity to see scrimmages by both the Golden Hawk football and volleyball teams. The evening has also been dubbed “The Gator Bowl” because the teams have asked for donations of Gatorade and other sports drinks.

The public was treated to barbecued porkburgers, baked beans, and a variety of desserts for a minimal cost. Proceeds from the barbecue went to the Mid-Prairie Athletic Booster Club.

While co-president Chris Huston helped serve food, her husband, Mark staffed one of the tables in the cafeteria where people could volunteer to work at a fundraising event at the University of Iowa, or pledge the financial support by joining one of five membership clubs. Huston said the turnout for the evening had been strong with a steady stream of hungry people entering the cafeteria since the doors opened.

“This is one of our major fund raising activities,” Huston said. “The community supports us really well. We are very pleased.”

The money raised at Friday’s event went to the booster club which in turn, provides needed equipment and facility upgrades for Mid-Prairie’s athletic programs. Huston told The Kalona News that the booster club has in the past provided weight-training equipment and contributed to the construction of the new all-weather track.

The goal of the boosters this year is to raise funds for a facility that will be put to use for all of Mid-Prairie’s student athletes.

“The major goal that we have right now is to expand our weight room facility,” Huston reported. He said that up until a few years ago, the current weight lifting facility was adequate for the needs of Mid-Prairie. Back then, the weight room was mainly put to use by the football team. Very few women were seen in the room.

However, the benefits of weight training have been realized in all sports, not just the strength intensive programs like football and wrestling. Now both male and female student-athletes from all sports are spending part of their training and conditioning program lifting weights.

Currently, the wrestling room to the west of the gym serves as the temporary home for the weight benches, and other equipment. While this situation is acceptable in the fall, the equipment must later be moved out to allow for wrestling practice. Huston said that there is room for only a dozen or so students to lift at any given time. With basketball, softball, and volleyball players all requiring time in the weight room, a larger and more permanent facility is required.

The Golden Hawk football team also took advantage of the opportunity to raise funds for their program. Following the freshmen/sophomore scrimmage, the team held a player auction where the public could bid on four hours of labor provided by one of the players.

Coach Mark Dalton reported that every player had been “purchased” raising over $2800 in pledges, $2200 of which was collected that evening. Sophomore running back Adam Kos received the highest pledge, $77.50, for his services, while Seth Fisher and John Sebok also brought in large sums.

Auctioneer Dwight Duwa presided over the “sale,” commenting that a lot of football players would be spending their time cleaning out livestock stalls.

Coach Dalton and assistant coach Jason Dumont also got into the action, with the players themselves pledging $190 and $175 respectively. Dalton said that for his four hours of labor, the players wanted him to affix the stripes and decals on all of their football helmets.

Despite the extra work he now faces, Coach Dalton was extremely pleased with the evening’s results and the support shown by the community.

“The parents and the community did an unbelievable job,” Dalton said. “I want to thank them all from the bottom of my heart.”

Dalton was also happy with his team’s performance on the field. The strong running of Kos and Mike Huston, good execution from quarterback Seth Fisher, and the excellent protection of the offensive line highlighted the varsity scrimmage.

“This gave us a chance to take a real close look at how we do running and passing the ball,” Dalton said. “It was good to highlight our strong points and to identify areas where we need to improve.”

Compared to one year ago, Dalton left Friday evening feeling good about the effort and execution of his team.

“The kids went all out on every play,” Dalton said. “Huston and Kos did a good job running and Seth did a good job, too. It was different from last year in that we had good execution on every play.”

Dalton was particularly pleased with the effort of the offensive line. He said that they provided excellent run and pass blocking for the backfield, even when matched up with first-string defenders. For this, he credits the efforts and expertise of the assistant coaches.

“Shawn Kreman and Jason Dumont have been doing a good job of making the line stronger and a lot more consistent,” Dalton said.