Prep Football- We have covered three of our local team’s districts and now it is time to go through our fourth and final preview for the upcoming 2025 regular season. We travel to Class 2A District 6 where two new teams enter, and Mid-Prairie looks to repeat as champs.
Mid-Prairie
An inauspicious 0-3 start for the Golden Hawks eventually gave way for seven-game winning streak that resulted in Mid-Prairie falling on step short of the UNI-Dome. District Coach of the Year Daren Lambert redirected the Golden Hawks to a #9 finish in Class 2A.
An 0-3 start sounds bad, but when you investigate the tape, it shows a squad that had yet to learn how to win. The Golden Hawks were outscored 35 to 6 in the first three weeks of the season, losing those games by a combined 23 points.
Leading that defensive effort was junior Kaden Kos, as he totaled 108.5 tackles and 22.5 tackles for loss flying all around the field. Cobi Hershberger had 11 tackles for loss to finish second on the team.
Add in a defense that forced 16 turnovers, including a fumble recovery for a touchdown by senior Conner Wiles. Mid-Prairie will return their ballhawks with Gentry Bontrager, Cash Brown, Kos, and Hudson Ehrenfelt capturing six of the team’s nine interceptions.
A balanced offense saw Brady Weber throw for 1,751 yards and 11 touchdowns in his senior season under center, while Ehrenfelt rushed for 1,365 yards and 26 touchdowns on an average of 5.6 yards per carry. Weber scored six rushing touchdowns, but he was second on the team in yards with 94 for the season.
Kos was a big play threat through the air with 298 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 receptions. The leading receiver was senior Blake Swart with 366 yards on 30 receptions, while Ace Peck, a senior, also had three receiving touchdowns.
The pattern with how Mid-Prairie found their success last year was a healthy mix of experienced seniors and two superstar juniors. The issue now is not a whole lot of sophomores or freshmen were able to find a lot of time on their field.
Tommy Miller was the only sophomore to tab double digit tackles for the season and freshman Ryan Henry was the only underclassman to rush for positive yards. The Golden Hawks will return their superstars, but it is a team game and Mid-Prairie has to have some young guys step up.
Player to Watch: Hudson Ehrenfelt
West Burlington/Notre Dame
It is not often that you have two teams ranked inside the Top 10 for a class, but the Falcons were able to accomplish just that along with their first postseason victory in program history after defeating Centerville 38-22 at home. Their 8-2 record was their best mark since 2008, also the last time they hosted a playoff game.
This was not without some close calls. In week 2, Mt. Pleasant forced three turnovers and snatched a 10 to 9 lead deep in the third quarter before Quincy Collins scampered for three second half touchdowns to win 31-10.
The very next week, Collins again came to the rescue with 160 yards on the ground and two touchdowns to scrape past West Liberty 27-22. But the ultimate close call was a week five 21-19 barn burner against Mediapolis. Collins trounced through the Bulldogs for 254 yards and two scores, while adding 11 tackles and an interception on defense.
For the senior’s efforts, Collins now owns just about every Falcon gridiron record, was named 1st Team All-State running back for Class 2A, and will be playing football at Coe College in the upcoming fall season. He finished with 2,474 yards and 35 touchdowns on the ground, making up 63% of the total offense and 73% of the total touchdowns.
That will be a tough slot to fill, but most of the hurt will be felt on the defense. Emry Watson, an undersized defensive lineman who had a nose for the ball with 27.5 tackles for loss the past two seasons, Collins, Blake Wilson, who led the team with 5.5 sacks, and CJ Davis, who had 48 tackles, including seven for loss were four of the team’s top five tacklers.
Add in Levi Fletcher-Bates and they lose nearly 50% of their total tackles from last year in five players. Add in a defense that struggled to force turnovers losing half of their production.
To focus on offense first, the quarterback position is completely up for grabs as last year’s signal caller, Landry Haberichter, is not listed on the upcoming season’s roster. He finished the year as the second leading rusher and added nine total touchdowns. The only quarterbacks listed on the roster are freshmen in Kellan Porter and Ryan Kipp.
Liam Stensgard returns as their leading receiver as the tight end caught all three touchdown passes last season. Beyond that, questions are prevalent at the wide receiver and running back positions.
Defensively, Sam Dzawo finished fourth on the team in tackles, while the pair of Joseph Glendeing and Kael Cook each collected 12.5 tackles for loss and combined for 5.5 sacks from the defensive line.
The Falcons will have a bit more size this year with five players listed over 6’0 tall compared to zero players last year. A week one matchup at Danville will pit two teams against one another trying to figure out some answers at their skill positions.
Player(s) to Watch: Joseph Glendening and Kael Cook
Mediapolis
Since 2007, the Bulldogs have encountered only two losing seasons and have made the playoffs in 15 of the past 18 seasons, including a seven-year streak. Last year’s 5-5 record marked only the fourth time that the Bulldogs have failed to win at least six games.
The season was a bit all over the place for Mediapolis. Typically, they dominated in wins, averaging a 25-point difference. On the other hand, their losses were disappointing to say the least.
They were down 14 to 7 at halftime against Sigourney Keota, trailing Regina Catholic 24 to 21 at the end of the third quarter, fell by two points to West Burlington, and were within reach of Mid-Prairie in the regular season, falling 24-8.
That success can largely be attributed to 1st Team All-State returner Noah Schmidgall. The senior averaged 25.2 yards per kick return, including a 91-yard touchdown return, and stormed his way for 1,554 rushing yards and 20 total touchdowns.
Reese Campbell helped out with eight passing touchdowns and four rushing touchdowns as he finished second on the team in rushing with 191 yards. However, his nine interceptions hindered this team from taking the next step.
The defense will lose their top two tacklers in Alton Wonderlich and Maxx Ortiz as the pair combined for 131 tackles and 11 tackles for loss. Wonderlich even had a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
Nevertheless, the defense returns a handful of playmakers in Parker Lange, Kyler Crow, Peyton Johson, and Bejamin Gerst. This quartet combined for 15 sacks and 37.5 tackles for loss. Additionally, Parker Holsteen managed a sack and three fumble recoveries, including a return for a touchdown.
While the offense struggled with turnovers with 10 team interceptions, the defense provided their own spark with 18 fumble recoveries and five interceptions with two coming from Gannon Gunn, a returner, who also finished the season as the leading receiver with 20 catches for 222 yards and two touchdowns.
The offense will need a new quarterback, running back, and a secondary receiver. Quincy King threw just five passes last season and Holsteen and Brock Spears combined for just 30 carries. Although Holsteen averaged 7.4 yards per carry and scored four times.
Add in need for a new punter and kicker after graduating Braeden Oliver, who averaged 33.5 yards per punt and went 29 for 35 for extra points. The Bulldogs should be able to buy some time for their offense as their defense should keep their opponents off the board.
Player to Watch: Parker Holsteen
Central Lee
The Hawks have started their last two seasons 7-0, including a 4-0 start to the year before falling 14-0 to Albia in week five. Central Lee then finished the season on losing streaks of five and four, respectively, being outscored 312 to 82 in those nine weeks.
If we inspect those four wins, they turn out to be a bit suspect. None of their opponents finished the season with a winning record. Two of their four wins were by one possession and the victory over Durant would have been the same if not for a fourth quarter touchdown. Lastly, in three of the four wins, the Hawks managed 21 points or less.
The offense entirely depended on the rushing attack. They went from soaring to an average of 272 rushing yards per game through the first games of the year to a mere 166 yards in the second half of the season.
Worst of all, the Hawks graduate their top three rushers in Kayden Calfee (671 yards and nine touchdowns), Chase Johnson (635 yards and six touchdowns), and Kegan Damico (243 yards). Central Lee also graduated three of their four wide receivers.
Bo Herdrich, their leading tackler, graduated along with Cale Clark, who led the team with three sacks and sat behind Herdrich in tackles for loss at six for the season. Add in the loss of Brayden Wyrick, who led the team with six interceptions. Herdrich had two, including a pick-six.
The Hawks will return Brett Cook, who nabbed three interceptions as a sophomore, taking one back to the house. Peter Seyb will come back as well as he finished a tackle behind Herdrich for the team lead.
Cook, who completed one pass for 22 yards and a touchdown, will most likely step up as the signal caller, while a three-man rotation of Ward Fraise, Seyb, and Max Jones might be used to run the football. The Hawks have not had a single runner go above 1,000-rushing yards since Adam Rooney in 2016 with 1,252 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Player to Watch: Brett Cook
West Liberty
Despite winning just three games last year, the Comets found themselves finishing third in their district and making the playoffs, where they were promptly dismantled by West Marshall 34-6. It actually marked their third trip to the playoffs in their last four years winning only three regular-season games.
This run comes after a five-year streak of turning in a winning record, with their 8-4 record in 2018 being their best mark. They played two teams who will now be in their district last year and went 0-2—a 36-7 loss to Wilton and the aforementioned loss to WB/ND.
West Liberty had a difficult season. A 13-point fourth quarter comeback ended up one point short of knocking off Northeast and a narrow 28-21 loss to Monticello happened on consecutive weeks.
Their three wins were merciless as they hurtled to scores of 38, 28, and 49, while giving up a combined 33 points in that trio of matchups.
Senior quarterback Ryker Dengler was the reason for any kind of success as the Comets totaled just 1,334 rushing yards for the season on a clip of 4.2 yards per carry, which Dengler led the team with 600 yards rushing and 11 rushing touchdowns.
Dengler tossed for 1,429 yards and 10 touchdowns on a 67% completion rate. Helping him through the air was Seth Axsom with 617 yards and five touchdowns and Owen Daufeldt, who is set to return, matched his senior counterpart with five touchdowns.
Axsom will be missed on defense as well with three interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Amazingly, seven of their top ten tacklers were seniors, including their top four. Cameron Iske, who graduated, led the team with three sacks. By the way, Dengler was also the punter, averaging 36.7 yards per boot.
They will bring back Briggs Collins, who finished second on the team in rushing yards with 334 yards and four touchdowns. His 4.6 yards per carry was the most on the team for anyone above 15 carries for the season.
Perry Lehman looks to be the heir apparent on defense as he totaled 31 tackles and 2.5 sacks last year. Collins could step into a similar role that Axsom left behind as a splash playmaker in the secondary.
At the very least, Uriel Andrade nailed a 42-yard field goal last year and will return to kick for the Comets this year, so while the offense gathers their footing, Andrade offers a chance at points.
Player to Watch: Briggs Collins
Wilton
Wilton has been the ultimate example of what life is like for rural high schools. Three years of eight-win seasons followed by a losing season, then a return to fortune, quickly overruled by four years of mediocrity. Well, right now the Beavers are at the apex having won 10 games last season and 18 games the past two seasons.
Mid-Prairie gave them a scare in week one, scraping by with a 19-14 victory, kick starting a 7-0 start to the season before Regina Catholic knocked them back down to earth in the final week of the regular season 20-8 as the Beavers allowed 262 rushing yards.
Wilton then scorched Aplington-Parkersburg and MFL-MarMac in the first two rounds of the playoffs before getting their revenge against the Regals in the quarterfinals, scoring 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win 21-14. The defense held Regina Catholic to only 124 yards and nabbed four interceptions.
The season would end in the semifinals, when the Beavers ran into a Grundy Center team determined to end the year with a title and an unblemished record.
The Beavers scored at least 30 points in 8 of their 12 games, going undefeated in those matches. The senior duo of Drew Keith at quarterback and Owen Hassell at running back always made sure the Beavers could succeed through the air or on the ground.
Keith threw for nearly 2,000 yards and 22 touchdowns, adding 542 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. Hassell went off for 1,279 rushing yards and 22 scores, while catching three more touchdowns.
Keith found reliable targets in seniors Kale McQuillen and Cade Souhrada, as the pair combined for 1,173 yards and 13 touchdowns. Jordan Dusenberry had 44 receptions in his senior season for 412 yards.
Their defense relied entirely on juniors and seniors, as junior Hayden Hill and senior Owen Midler each put up 80 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Not a single sophomore had more than six tackles for the season. Dusenberry’s incredible eight interceptions will move on as well as the Beavers captured 15 interceptions last season.
In terms of who will step up, that’s a large unknown. Hill will have to work double-duty as the team’s star middle linebacker, while most likely taking the bulk of the carries as he was the only other player to eclipse 12 carries last season other than Keith and Hassell (Hill had 193 rushing yards and four touchdowns).
Gunner Edwards threw six passes as a sophomore, completing four. Gatlin Rogers caught 18 passes with four being four touchdowns, he also had five sacks on defense. Gabe Brisker collected two interceptions on defense.
An unbelievable senior class led Wilton to the doorstep of Class 2A glory, now will the program be able to retain it or will they have to wait until the next class of prodigies come along. That question might have to wait a couple of weeks as they start off the year with matchups against Regina Catholic and Sigourney Keota—talk about a cake walk.
Player to Watch: Hayden Hill
For a full list of schedules: Class 2A Schedules