Hawks face tough test in Albia

Coming into the playoffs, the Mid-Prairie football team knew they would have a tough task ahead.

As a No. 3 seed, the Hawks knew their playoff trip would take place entirely on the road, and eventually, their path would take them through the toughest competition in the state.

After a 28-10 road victory over PCM, Monroe in the first round of the playoffs on Wednesday night, the big test comes in the second round, as Mid-Prairie will travel to face No. 1 ranked and undefeated Albia on Monday. After a big win, the Hawks aren?t going to be backing down.

?I know they are a good team and a tough opponent,? Mid-Prairie senior wide receiver Blake Schwartz said. ?Personally, I?m excited to play them. I think we can do well against them.?

Mid-Prairie is familiar with Albia, having met the Blue Demons in each of the past two postseasons. Albia won both of those matchups (by a combined score of 75-24), ending the Hawks? season the past two years, and the Hawks certainly are keeping that in the back of their minds.

?From past years, we know we haven?t done as well against them,? Mid-Prairie senior running back/linebacker Nolan Faselt said. ?They have been able to exploit our weaknesses. We are hoping that with the short amount of time we have, we can correct those weaknesses, and take it to them.?

While the Hawks didn?t show many weaknesses in the first round of the playoffs, one of their strengths they hope to carry into the game is their rushing attack.

Faselt ran for more than 200 yards in Wednesday?s playoff victory, and the Hawks hope to have junior running back and leading rusher Ricky Vargas back for an expanded role in Monday?s game.

Vargas suffered an ankle injury after Week 8, and missed the regular-season finale against Mediapolis. He rushed the ball one time against PCM, picking up 5 yards, but the Hawks rode the hot hand of Faselt to help rest Vargas the rest of the night.

??It?s the next-man-in philosophy,? Mid-Prairie head coach Pete Cavanaugh said after Wednesday night?s game. ?We have a number of good backs on this team who are capable of playing, and hopefully Ricky can rest up and be good to go for Monday.?

Because the Hawks have had such a strong rushing game in 2015, they have been able to open up the passing attack behind senior quarterback Ryan Cortum, who is two yards away from a 1,000-yard passing season, to go with his nine touchdowns.

Schwartz has been Cortum?s favorite target this season, posting team-highs in receiving yards (505), catches (24) and receiving touchdowns (4) this season, making it a fun year for the senior.

?The first couple of games, we didn?t pass the ball a whole lot, and I just thought that I?ll do my job blocking,? Schwartz said. ?I was glad to get wins, but when we came out passing, it opened up more options for our team more, and it was fun.?

As the Hawks hope to open their offense up against the Blue Demons, they will face a tough defense to move the ball against. Albia has posted four shutouts this season, allowing eight or fewer points in nine of their 10 games this year.

The most points given up by Albia this season came against a team that throws the ball quite a bit, Class 1A Pella Christian in Week 3, but still resulted in a 62-21 victory.

Pella Christian junior quarterback David Kacmarynski (who has 2,602 passing yards through 10 games) had 177 yards and two touchdowns through the air in the contest.

Despite the Hawks? being underdogs in the game, projected to lose by 28 points according to the BCMoore Index, the Hawks are still feeling some pressure.

?We are seniors and we might not get to play later on; the pressure is kind of on us,? Faselt said. ?We don?t want it to be our last game. We have to give it all. Ever since eighth grade we?ve been playing together and having fun. It would be awesome to finally go to state together after all these years.?

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on Monday night.