WELLMAN

It was an electric atmosphere at Dwight G. Statler Field last Friday when Hudson Ehrenfelt took a short pass from Brady Weber in the third quarter and turned it into a 86-yard touchdown, giving the Golden Hawks a 14-6 lead over the Sigourney-Keota Cobras.

With one quarter left to play, Mid-Prairie was eyeing its first win of the season in front of its homecoming crowd, but the Cobras had other plans. Quieting down the crowd, a rushing TD along with a two-point conversion at the beginning of the fourth quarter put S-K even with the Hawks. 

The score stayed deadlocked, with both teams playing stout defense, but with three minutes left the Cobras blocked a Mid-Prairie punt to give them excellent field position. 

Draining the clock, S-K scored a go-ahead rushing TD with 36 seconds left, not leaving Mid-Prairie with enough time to potentially answer with a score of their own. 

“We lacked discipline tonight. We constantly put ourselves in tough situations and most of that was done to ourselves,” Mid-Prairie head coach Daren Lambert said after Mid-Prairie fell to S-K, 21-14, on Sept. 13. 

“You got to give credit to them. They took advantage of the opportunity that we feel like we offered them and that’s what good teams are going to do. If you give them a lot of chances, they’re going to take advantage of it.” 

Those tough situations Mid-Prairie put themselves in were a result of penalties. In the first quarter it was difficult for the Hawks to get going on offense as penalty markers kept causing them to move in the wrong direction. 

Mid-Prairie had a pick-six at the tail end of the first but was called back due to a roughing the passer penalty. 

“We just have to be more disciplined on both sides of the ball,” coach Lambert said. “Too many penalties. Took away some big plays for us. We just got to be better.”  

The Cobras scored first but missed the extra point to take a 6-0 lead in the second. With two minutes left before half, Ehrenfelt snagged an interception on defense and then on offense Ehrenfelt punched in a rushing TD and a successful extra point gave the Hawks the lead going into halftime. 

“We’ve been trying to get him going all season and just getting the ball in his hands,” coach Lambert said about Ehrenfelt. “He made plays tonight.”

Mid-Prairie expanded their lead with Ehrenfelt’s third quarter 86-yard receiving TD (tied for the second longest in school history). 

“He was a tough dude on that long touchdown,” coach Lambert said. 

The talented junior running back rushed for a team leading 78 yards on 23 carries and had five catches for a team leading 93 yards against the Cobras. His INT on defense was Mid-Prairie’s first turnover of the season.   

Setting up that long catch and run TD was Weber who managed to find Ehrenfelt while scrambling. 

“Brady made a great play and great individual effort and then the team to get [Ehrenfelt] across the end zone, doing their jobs on their end,” coach Lambert said. 

Weber ended his night going 11/20 for 194 yards, tossing one TD, and committed no turnovers. 

Still searching for their first win, Mid-Prairie begins district play next week and while the Hawks know this start is not ideal, they also know the goals they set out before the season are still achievable. 

“We’re 0-3. There’s a lot of self-reflection from everybody. We got to be better. We got to be more disciplined and do our job. But like we told them, it’s a brand-new season next week,” coach Lambert said. “All the goals that we had at the beginning of the season of winning district and going to the Dome, those are still on the table. You got to take the first three games of the season, learn from it and get ready to go.”

Mid-Prairie (0-3) goes on the road to battle the West Burlington Falcons (3-0) on Sept. 20.