Mid-Prairie survives with road victory

The seniors shined on Wednesday night for the Mid-Prairie football team.

Led by senior running back Nolan Faselt?s 200-yard rushing game, the Golden Hawks cruised to a first-round road playoff victory over PCM, Monroe 28-10, to advance to Monday?s second round.

Seniors accounted for all four Mid-Prairie touchdowns on the night, as Faselt found the end zone twice, Karson Duwa rushed in a touchdown and Blake Schwartz caught a pass from Ryan Cortum from 30 yards out to help Mid-Prairie to the victory.

With the offensive success, that set up a big day for the Mid-Prairie defense, according to Mid-Prairie head coach Pete Cavanaugh.

?We knew their offense was pretty good, so we wanted to run the ball and control the clock,? Cavanaugh said. ?We did that tonight. Our time of possession was out of the roof, and that helps keep their offense off the field and our defense was fresh.?

Junior defensive end Levi Duwa was a part of the disruptive front four, picking up two sacks in the game, as Mid-Prairie forced four turnovers in the contest.

?We wanted to try to get some pressure on the quarterback and take away what they like to do,? Cavanaugh said. ?I thought we did a good job on the deep pass. We gave up a few things underneath, but that?s OK. Our front four were able to get enough pressure to rattle them a bit.?

Karson Duwa opened the scoring for the Hawks, punching in a 2-yard rush six minutes into the game, but PCM answered as the game went into the second quarter, knocking a 31-yard field goal through the uprights.

The Hawks responded with a touchdown, and after a couple of turnovers, were able to put a cushion between them and PCM before halftime.

?At the end of the half, we forced a couple of fumbles and scored on the last play of the half,? Cavanaugh said. ?That made it 21-3 and that was kind of a back-breaker for them. That was all created by our defense.?

The defense only allowed seven points in the second half, as Faselt added his second touchdown of the game, helping the Hawks advance to Monday?s second round.

Things get tough on Monday as the Hawks will travel to face top-ranked Albia.

Mid-Prairie hopes to have junior running back Ricky Vargas (1 carry for 5 yards on Wednesday) back to 100 percent after suffering an ankle injury two weeks ago, for the game, but Cavanaugh said the team is stepping up in his absence.

?It?s the next-man-in philosophy,? Cavanaugh said. ?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.?

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Albia.