WELLMAN

Mid-Prairie quarterback Brady Weber and running back Hudson Ehrenfelt played a game of toss across last Friday night.

Davis County paid the price.

Adding yet another piece to the Golden Hawks’ rapidly evolving offensive attack, the backfield toss led to a six-touchdown night for Ehrenfelt and a dominating 48-3 win Sept. 27 to leave Mid-Prairie as the only unbeaten team in Iowa District 2A-5.

Ehrenfelt tied the school record for touchdowns scored in one game and his 314 rushing yards fell just two yards short of a record set by Kayden Reinier in 2020 against Central Lee.

“We haven’t really had a game like this since last year,” said Ehrenfelt, a junior who ranks fifth in Class 2A in rushing touchdowns and 12^th in rushing yardage.

The Golden Hawks piled up 322 yards of rushing offense, but just 8 yards were by a Golden Hawk not named Ehrenfelt. He scored on touchdown runs of 42, 24, 80, 7, 35 and 5 yards, the last one coming with 3:26 remaining in the game.

Opposing defenses have been stacking up the middle of their defensive lines to slow down Ehrenfelt, so this time Mid-Prairie worked on “toss” plays in which instead of handing the ball off to Ehrenfelt, Weber ran out on option plays and tossed the ball to Ehrenfelt as he headed for outside lanes.

“Teams are just pressuring up the middle,” Golden Hawks head coach Daren Lambert said. “So we started working on some of our perimeter run games and outside run stuff and toss sweeps.”

“It gives me more time to get to the outside and cut up the field,” Ehrenfelt said.

Playing a big part in this transformation was a senior-dominated offensive line that included senior Conner Wiles at center, and senior teammates Landon Kos, Quinn Callahan and Dylan Humphrey.

“Each and every week, they have gotten better and better and better,” Lambert said. “We challenged them. Last week, when we ran the ball, and on top of this week, you can just see that confidence in them. Things are starting to make sense. It comes down to the feet, the hands, the head placement.”

In the Golden Hawks’ first two district games, both victories, they have scored 90 points and averaged more than 300 yards a game.

Friday, the Golden Hawks had a 33-point lead at halftime.

“We knew we wanted to get ahead early,” said Weber, who passed for and ran for a combined six touchdowns in a game last year. “The run game tonight really opened up the pass. The offensive line and Hudson did a great job. It made life on us easy.”

How easy? When the Golden Hawks did pass, Weber completed two-thirds of his passes, 10-of-15, for 161 yards and a QB rating of 178.8. Cobi Hershberger caught a scoring pass in the third quarter.

“We didn’t have to throw much because we ran the ball good, but when we did the receivers did a great job getting open, and they made plays,” Weber said.

But mostly, this was the Hudson Ehrenfelt show.

“We have success, you just keep pushing that button until it doesn’t work anymore,” Lambert said. “And tonight, it worked.”

And right down to the finish, defensive coordinator Derek Yoder was pushing the Golden Hawks toward a near shutout. It was the first time in two years that they hadn’t given up a touchdown.

Kaden Kos led Mid-Prairie with 11 tackles and Hershberger had a fumble recovery. Davis County’s only points came on a 26-yard field goal in the first half by Landon Fetcho.

GAME STATS

MID-PRAIRIE 48, DAVIS COUNTY 3

Davis County        3     0    0   0   --  3

Mid-Prairie         21   15    6   6   -- 48

M-P: Hudson Ehrenfelt 42 run (Kale Miller kick)

M-P: Ehrenfelt 24 run (Miller kick)

DC: Landon Fetcho 26 FG

M-P: Ehrenfelt 80 run (Miller kick)

M-P: Ehrenfelt 7 run (Weber run)

M-P: Ehrenfelt 35 run (Miller kick)

M-P: Cobi Hershberger 20 pass from Brady Weber (kick failed)

M-P: Ehrenfelt 5 run (kick failed)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Passing: DC, Cason Young, 2-9, 47 yards; M-P, Brady Weber, 10-15, 161 yards, 1 TD.

Rushing: DC, Young, 33-169; Carter Will, 9-44; Brett Prevo, 3-19; M-P, Hudson Ehrenfelt, 24-314, 6 TD; Tatem Telfer, 2-5; Weber, 4-3.

Receiving: DC, Jack Patrick, 1-37; Blaine Meyer, 1-10; M-P, Cobi Hershberger, 4-64, 1 TD; Ace Peck, 2-20; Blake Swart, 2-17; Telfer, 1-52; Ehrenfelt, 1-8.

Tackling leaders: M-P, Kaden Kos, 11; Conner Wiles, 8.5; Tommy Miller, 4.5.