Golden Hawks, Cobras to meet

WELLMAN - Two teams with high hopes this season will clash at Mid-Prairie Friday when Sigourney-Keota visits to open the high school football season.

The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks were 6-3 last season while the Cobras finished 8-1. Neither made the playoffs as both finished second in their respective districts.

Friday's game could be a turnover battle.

Last year, the Cobra defense struck often for turnovers, finishing sixth in Class 1A in fumble recoveries (13) and third in interceptions (17). Last year as a junior, Cobra defensive back Brady Duwa tied for the most interceptions in 1A with nine and third overall regardless of class.

Mid-Prairie was 10th in Class 2A with 11 interceptions and seventh in fumble recoveries with 14.

Kayden Reinier returns for his senior season as a Golden Hawk after scoring the third most rushing touchdowns (21) and gaining 1,127 yards on the ground last year, which was the 10th best total in Class 2A. The Hawks were ninth in 2A as a team in yards rushing with 2,213.

The Cobras ground attack was the second best in Class 1A last season with 3,499 yards and they were third in rushing touchdowns with 51. They will not have JD Stout and his 1,490 yards rushing or his 23 rushing touchdowns, both were fourth in Class 1A. They do return Sam Sieren and his 1,122 yards rushing and Brady Duwa's 442.

Rush yards are paramount for the Cobras because they threw just 51 passes last year and completed 19. Cade Molyneux was 13-of-22 passing in 2019 as a sophomore. Duwa was the leading receiver with seven catches for 151 yards.

Mid-Prairie loses Brad Tornow at quarterback, who went 53-of-107 for 880 yards. Three others combined to go 4-for-15 for 48 yards. Keegan Gingerich is the leading returning receiver with 10 catches for 256 yards.

Justice Jones made 58.5 tackles for Mid-Prairie last year as a sophomore.

Molyneux and Wyatt Sieren, who is a senior this season, were the leading tacklers on the Cobras last season with a combined 60.

The Golden Hawks averaged 40 points a game last year and set a school record with 77 points in the season's final game, a 77-13 win over Albia.

Albia also lost to SK by a 75-27 score. The Cobras averaged 47 points a game. Other common opponents were Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont which SK defeated 53-14 and Mid-Prairie won 62-7. SK downed Pekin 34-14 in the first game of 2019 and Mid-Prairie rolled over Pekin 43-0 the next week.