WEST LIBERTY

On his fourth run of the season last Friday, Mid-Prairie’s Hudson Ehrenfelt tore through the middle of the line and blasted ahead for a 47-yard touchdown.

And with that one play early in a scrimmage game at West Liberty, Mid-Prairie’s offense showed an explosiveness that the Golden Hawks hope to display many more times.

“Can’t do without the O line,” Ehrenfelt said with a smile. “Tonight, they really opened up a lot of cutback lanes for me.”

“When he rips one off there,” Golden Hawks head coach Daren Lambert said, “there’s a lot of guys, the other 10, doing their job.”

Later in the night, with the varsity players reduced to cheerleading duties on the sideline, Mid-Prairie’s backup and JV players scored long touchdowns on three consecutive offensive plays. Two of them were touchdown passes thrown by Brooks Weber, a sophomore who is backing up his older brother, starting quarterback Brady Weber. Ryan Henry, a freshman, began the three-play stretch by running for a score.

All of this sets up a season opener this Friday at Wilton, a rematch of an opener last year when Ehrenfelt, in his first varsity game, and the Golden Hawks were shut out. The Beavers went on to win eight games and were stopped in the second round of the Class 1A playoffs by Iowa City Regina, whose coach, Jason Dumont, a Mid-Prairie alum, is now head coach at West Liberty.

“It’s going to be tough,” Lambert said of Friday’s opener. “It’s going to be very physical. Offensively, they return a lot of guys, nearly their entire offense.”

Even a year ago, despite a shutout loss, the Golden Hawks flashed a bit of the future against Wilton. Ehrenfelt rushed for 85 yards on 19 carries in his varsity starting debut. Brady Weber passed for a game-high 114 yards in his first varsity start.

After that opening night, Ehrenfelt rushed for 1,251 yards and 12 touchdowns, ranking number one among sophomores in Iowa 2A, and caught three touchdown passes. Weber passed for 1,383 yards and 20 touchdowns, ranking sixth in 2A for TD passes and 11th in 2A for passing yards.

The Golden Hawks reached the second round of the 2A playoffs, as Wilton did in 1A.

Wilton quarterback Drew Keith, now a senior captain, passed for 1,197 yards and 12 touchdowns. Owen Hassell, now a senior, rushed for 1,060 yards and 20 TDs.

Friday’s showdown goes beyond football. Wilton swept Mid-Prairie in a pair of basketball games last year, while the Golden Hawks won two of three games in baseball over the summer.

“It’s a rivalry game,” Lambert said. “These guys see each other in basketball, they see each other in baseball and they see them in football. It was a tight one last year, so it’s going to be physical and it’s going to be fun. It’s what you want in week one. It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be a challenge and it’s going to force us to prepare extremely well this week.”

All Ehrenfelt knows is that it’s football season. He ran for 57 yards on five carries against West Liberty and Brady Weber completed three of his first four passes for 52 yards. At that point, the Golden Hawks defense did not allow a score in a scrimmage that began with each team getting the ball at its own 35-yard line.

“It felt good to be back,” Ehrenfelt said. “Football went away for a little bit, but the offseason was huge for the team.”

FRIDAY'S GAME

Mid-Prairie at Wilton

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.

Last meeting: Wilton  won the 2023 season opener, 13-0

Quick fact: Both teams advanced to the second round of the 2023 playoffs, Mid-Prairie in 2A and Wilton in 1A

Key stat: Mid-Prairie RB Hudson Ehrenfelt was the top sophomore RB in Iowa 2A last year.