Mid-Prairie couldn’t have imagined a better start to their Friday night. 

Keegan Gingerich forced and recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff and two plays later Kayden Reinier dove into the end zone for a 10-yard rushing touchdown. Just 36 seconds had ticked off the game clock and Mid-Prairie had a 7-0 lead. 

“It felt pretty good,” Gingerich said. “I was thinking to myself before the kickoff about getting down there and hitting him. I broke down and put my helmet on the ball and knocked it out.”

Gingerich would make another big appearance for the Golden Hawks in the first quarter. On their third drive of the game, Mid-Prairie was facing third-and-12 from their own 37-yard line. After a sack on first down and incomplete pass on second, the Hawks needed a big play keep the drive alive. 

Mid-Prairie quarterback Brad Tornow found Gingerich up the seam for a 63-yard passing touchdown and bringing the lead to 14-7.

The rest of the game was a different story as turnovers and a methodical Grinnell rushing attack wore down Mid-Prairie and eventually the Tigers overcame the deficit to win 47-20.

“They ran the ball down our throat. They had a lot of good blocks on us and we couldn’t stop that,” Gingerich said. 

The Tigers primary attack came from Wyatt Hunter, who had 252 yards on 30 carries. He scored four touchdowns for Grinnell including an explosive 53-yard run in the second quarter. Hunter also had a 40-plus yard touchdown called back for a personal foul by a player away from the play. 

The second quarter featured a bizarre play, where quarterback Brad Tornow officially completed a 40-yard pass to himself. A Grinnell defensive lineman deflected the initial pass on a screen play that was caught by Tornow far behind the line. He then broke many tackles on his way to the big gain. The drive stalled out after a pair of incompletions and a sack. 

The game looked as if it would head to halftime tied at 14, but a Hunter 38-yard touchdown gave Grinnell a 21-14 lead at half and sent Mid-Prairie into the locker room deflated. 

After two of Mid-Prairie’s first three drives ending in touchdowns, the next 10 ended in a punt, turnover or on downs. 

Due to an injury to Brad Tornow, Vinnie Bowlin started the second half at quarterback and played the rest of the way. 

The play didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but one highlight showed that it was just Grinnell’s night. Cole McGriff, lined up in the backfield in a wildcat-like situation and the initial snap was fumbled. In the scramble for the ball McGriff picked it up and found a lane to the end zone to make the score 33-14 and slam the door on the Golden Hawks. 

Mid-Prairie finished the night 5-13 on third down and 0-2 on fourth down. 

The large deficit allowed Mid-Prairie to put in some fresh faces at the end on offense and defense and they showed up with a touchdown on their final drive. 

Mid-Prairie’s final drive of the night was a 10-play 76-yard scoring drive finishing with a one-yard touchdown rush by Justice Jones. Jones finished the night with four rushes for 20 yards and a touchdown. He also added nine tackles on defense. 

Josh Wallington led the Golden Hawk defense with nine tackles, 4.5 for loss and a fumble recovery. Bowlin had a pair of pass breakups in the secondary. 

The Golden Hawks will try to get a win in Week 2 with another home game. The Golden Hawks kick off against Pekin at 7 p.m.