Your Prep Sports Week 3 Game of the Week: Mid-Prairie at Regina
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
Mid-Prairie (2-0) at Regina (1-1)
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Regal Field
River Valley Conference foes Regina and Mid-Prairie hook up in what feels like a series that has the makings of a rivalry.
The two conference rivals haven’t met since Mid-Prairie posted a 38-20 win over the Regals in 2008 after last year’s scheduled contest between the two teams was cancelled and credited as a win by forfeit for Regina.
Friday’s matchup should be a good one between a pair of teams that expect to battle for the top spot in their respective districts.
Players to Watch
Mid-Prairie – Braden Hartley
Senior Braden Hartley is exactly what you are looking for in a workhorse running back.
Hartley is big (6-3, 195), he is strong and he is fast and has used that combination to rush for 417 yards through two games, second most in Class 2A.
Last season Hartley averaged 7.3 yards per carry while rushing for 582 yards as part of a rotation in the Golden Hawk backfield.
This year Hartley has handled the solo workload well averaging 6.3 yards per carry on 62 attempts while posting games of 198 and 219 rushing yards.
Regina – Ronan Poynton
It’s that old in-game matchup that everyone loves to watch – the standout middle linebacker against the big-time running back.
Obviously there is a lot more that goes into run defense and Regina’s ability to slow Hartley but you can bet that Poynton will be a big part of the Regal game plan.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Poynton is a true thumper in the middle of the Regal defense and this is the type of slugfest game that he should excel in.
Poynton leads Regina with 21 tackles including 18 solo stops and a tackle for loss through two games.
Keys to the Game
Mid-Prairie – Pass The Ball Efficiently
The Golden Hawks don’t want to air it out, that’s not the preferred plan of attack for a Mid-Prairie offense that has run the ball on better than 80 percent of its offensive snaps this season.
However, when Mid-Prairie does throw the ball on Friday night they need to make it count.
The Golden Hawks use a running game that is averaging 266 yards per game and six yards per carry to set up the pass and in wins over West Burlington and Sigourney-Keota have been excellent in taking advantage of its opportunities through the air.
Mid-Prairie senior Collin Miller has completed just eight passes this season but four have gone for touchdowns and he is averaging 17 yards per completion.
Miller doesn’t need to light it up through the air on Friday but if a big play is there to be had in the passing game the Golden Hawks need to take advantage.
Regina – Run The Ball Effectively
It is hardly the best comparison based on level of competition but the difference an effective running game can make for the Regina offense was noticeable in the first two games.
The Regals were held to negative yards on the ground in a shutout loss at Williamsburg before averaging 5.6 yards per carry while racking up 195 yards on the ground and scoring 49 points in a week-two win over West Liberty.
Mid-Prairie wants to grind the ball and clock when it has possession and the Regals can return the favor if it gets its running game rolling against a Golden Hawk defense that is allowing 219 yards per game on the ground and 6.7 yards per carry.
Regina was without leading rusher Levi Daniel last week and used a running back rotation of 220-pound Ronan Poynton and 195-pound Chris Waikel to pound the ball between the tackles.
Look for more of the same on Friday if Daniel is absent or limited.
Both Teams – Finish Drives
A couple of teams that love to run the ball and have solid, veteran quarterbacks there is going to be yardage gained on Friday.
The key for both teams will be turning the yards into points.
As the field shrinks in the red zone teams love to stack the box with defenders against a run-heavy offense. That’s nothing new.
The team on Friday that can find a way to avoid bogging down in opponents territory of manages to get points out of scoring opportunities will likely be the team that comes out on top.
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