Eagles rout Central Elkader

Football

     Midland got back on the winning track with a 48-0 home football win over Central Elkader Sept. 27 in Wyoming. It was the first Eight-player, District 3 win for the Eagles, who are 1-2 in district play and 3-2 overall.

     Midland led 8-0 after one quarter, but put up 32 points in the second period to nab a 40-0 halftime lead.

     While the Eagles rushed for 117 yards and passed for just 69 during the game, they also benefited by punt returns for touchdowns by Britan Martens (48 yards) and Jake Arnell (40 yards). The Eagles were 6-for-6 on two-point conversion attempts.

     Alex Smith and Wilson Buckwalter rushed for touchdowns, while Sawyer Hansen caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from Carson Hunter, and Jensen Dodge caught a 29-yard scoring toss from Martens.

     Austin Weinshank had six solo tackles in the game. Caden Ballou had three tackles. Jensen Dodge and Jamison Dodge each made an interception.                 

Volleyball

     Midland had a pair of Tri-Rivers Conference matches and a tournament in the space of five days in last week’s volleyball action.

     On Sept. 24, the Eagles (0-3, 3-22) played host to Easton Valley, and lost by scores of 15-25, 15-25, 16-25. A high point was the team’s defensive play. Midland recorded 56 digs in the match, led by Taylor Bahnsen and Ella Rupp with 14 apiece, and Maisie Paulsen with nine. Rupp also had three blocks. Offensively, Arianna Hacke had six kills, and Hope Soroka made 10 assists.

     At Cedar Valley Christian Sept. 26, Midland lost in straight sets, 10-25, 21-25, 14-25. Brennah Ricketts and Hacke had five kills apiece; Soroka had six assists and Hacke had five. Bahnsen had 10 digs, and served 18-for-19 with six aces. Hacke and Ricketts had two blocks apiece.

     Midland then played in the North Cedar Tournament Sept. 28 in Clarence, and won one out of four matches.

     The win came against Durant, a 21-19, 21-13 decision. Midland had 38 digs in the match, led by Bahnsen with 10 and Soroka with seven. Soroka and Hacke each made four assists. Briana Stoll was the kill leader with four.

     The Eagles lost to Edgewood-Colesburg 10-21, 9-21, collecting just five kills in the match. Bahnsen had six digs.

     Against North Cedar, the Eagles fell 23-25, 8-21. Hacke had four kills, Rupp had three and Ricketts had two in the match. Soroka made six assists and had six digs. Bahnsen had seven digs. Ricketts served 6-for-6.

     In bracket play, Durant avenged its earlier loss to Midland, as the Eagles fell 9-25, 9-25. Hacke had three kills; Allison Paulsen and Rupp had two apiece. Bahnsen had 10 digs and served 5-for-5.

Cross country

     Midland competed in the Comet Invitational Sept. 24 in Bellevue, a meet that was postponed from Monday to Tuesday.

     The Eagle boys finished eighth in the meet with 204 points. Calamus-Wheatland was the champion with 45, Camanche was second with 59, and Northeast of Goose Lake was third with 82.

     Trenton Rickels led Midland with a 15^th place finish in 18:35.12. Tanner Stoll was 39^th in 20:38.75, Milo Smith finished 50^th in 22:17.40, Ethan Milder was 55^th in 23:18.65; and Bryce Rushford was 59^th in 24:17.04.

     Alyssa Staggs competed in the girls’ race for Midland, and finished 33^rd with a time of 28:16.83.

     The Eagles were originally scheduled to compete in both the Bellevue meet Sept. 23 and the Center Point-Urbana meet Sept. 24, but when the Bellevue event was moved to the 24^th, Midland opted for that one.

     Midland also competed in the Anamosa Invitational Sept. 28 at Anamosa Middle School.

     The boys didn’t have enough runners for a complete team. Rickels led the way, finishing 40^th in 18:58. Stoll ran 71^st in 20:54, Jon Thomsen was 81^st in 22:52, and Rushford finished 82^nd in 23:56.

     Staggs ran in the girls’ varsity race, taking 62^nd place in 26:55.