SEASON OPENER
The game: Mid-Prairie vs. Washington
Where: Case Field, Washington
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Golden Hawks key player: Senior QB Brooks Weber passed for a school-record 30 TDs last year and is one of many returning starters on offense.
Demons key player: Senior WR Nic Stone was the Demons’ top receiver last year with 28 catches for 270 yards. The Demons lost their top running back and passer to graduation, so the rebuilding begins Friday night.
History lesson: The Golden Hawks broke a seven-game losing streak to Washington with a 50-35 victory in the 2025 season opener.
WELLMAN
When Mid-Prairie put up 50 points in its season-opening football win last year against Washington, it turned out to be just a preview of what was to come.
The Golden Hawks topped 50 points in four other wins last year. They led Iowa 2A in scoring with an average of 42.7 points a game. Quarterback Brooks Weber, then a junior, smashed the school’s single-season record for touchdown passes by 10, passing for 30 scores.
The Golden Hawks (9-2) missed a trip to the 2A state semifinals at the UNI-Dome by just a seven-point loss to Van Meter in the quarterfinals.
It all began with the first game against Washington in eight years, and here we are again.
The Demons, who finished last year with a 5-4 record, host the Golden Hawks at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
“It’s exciting,” Mid-Prairie head coach Daren Lambert said. “It kind of feels like we were just here. A blink of an eye and you’re back at a new season. It’s a fun time of year.”
“I think next week’s going to be really fun,” senior receiver Nolan Jergens said. “Super excited for the season.”
The game begins a stretch of three non-district games for the two-time defending district champion Golden Hawks. After Friday, Mid-Prairie hosts 2A quarterfinalist Alburnett on Sept. 4 and then plays at 1A power Sigourney-Keota on Sept. 11.
The Golden Hawks scrimmaged at Grinnell, a 3A team, last week.
“It went pretty good, I thought,” Weber said. “We still obviously have some things to work on, but for the most part it went good. A lot of people, just getting out there and getting experience.”
Although Weber, and senior receivers Carson Humphrey and Jergens finished their night’s work early in the scrimmage at Grinnell and chatted along the sidelines as the JV team mopped up, Friday’s game at Washington will be different. Jergens caught two scoring passes in last year’s season opener and figures prominently into Friday’s offensive attack.
While the Golden Hawks lost All-State running back Hudson Ehrenfelt and Shrine Bowl selection Kaden Kos to graduation, this year’s team features an offense that includes three-fourths of a relay team that made it to the 2026 state track championships and a running back, Ryan Henry, who is a two-time finalist in state sprints.
“Ryan’s not only fast, but he’s powerful,” Lambert said. “And then you throw Lenox (Miller) in, and he’s fast and a little bit more side-to-side stuff.”
Cecil Kelley, a junior, joins Henry and Miller in the backfield.
“All three guys that we can put back there are kind of different in a way,” Lambert said. “One thing they all share in common, they’re all pretty fast and they run really hard.”
That depth also carries over to Mid-Prairie’s receiving fleet, which includes Kendrick Kos, a junior who also made the state track meet in the relays. The number of speedy receivers, plus running backs, will give Weber a number of options on the calls made by Lambert, who is also the team’s offensive coordinator.
“I’m hopeful that we can do what we did last year, if not better, with the pass game,” Weber said.
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