Cedar Rapids Prairie football will be done Joensing after this season

CEDAR RAPIDS — Sitting in the kitchen with him a couple of weeks ago, Tate Joens was reminded by his father of something.

“We were talking about Senior Night, and he was like ‘You’re the last one,’” Tate Joens said Thursday, just before his Cedar Rapids Prairie football team was about to begin practice at John Wall Field. “We were sitting in the kitchen, he was tearing up. Both of us were. It was pretty cool and very emotional.”

Scott Joens graduated from Prairie in 1982 and spent 10 years as an assistant football coach at the school. Sam Joens, Tate’s brother, graduated in 2011, and Brody Joens, another brother, in 2020.

They both played football.

Craig Joens, Scott’s older brother, played football at Prairie. So did his younger brothers, Doug and Jason.

Sister, Sara, was a football cheerleader. Their parents were long-time members of the Prairie booster club, with mom, Kay, known for ringing a ginormous cowbell at games that Scott still has in his possession.

You throw everyone’s children into this equation, and there has been a Joens with direct involvement in Prairie athletics and Prairie football virtually every year since the late 1970s.

Tate’s the last one until a new generation of Joens comes around.

“It’s pretty cool just having people around, all around Prairie football, Prairie track and field. It’s like you are so invested in this place and this school,” Tate Joens said. “I grew up being taught to love Prairie. My very first T-shirt was a Prairie football T-shirt. It would just be passed down to me from my brothers and my dad.”

“I’d do anything for Prairie,” Scott Joens said. “I really would. It shaped all of us, my brothers, my sister, all of my children, it shaped us for the better.”

Tate Joens is a senior linebacker-fullback for this Prairie team, which takes a 7-3 record into its Class 5A state playoff quarterfinal against fourth-ranked, defending champion Southeast Polk (9-1).

These teams met about a month ago, with SEP winning, 41-0, at home. Prairie threw a pair of interceptions in that game, fumbled the football away three times (including one run back for a touchdown) and committed a bunch of penalties.

The Hawks say it was about as bad as they could possibly play, thus they feel they’ve got a shot to stun the state.

“Now they’re expecting rain and 40-mile-per-hour winds,” said Prairie Coach Mark Bliss. “It’ll be interesting. You never know. You never know.“

“We’ve been watching film, we’ve been practicing hard this week,” Tate Joens said. “Honestly, in my opinion, they’re beatable. We beat ourselves last time with penalties and turnovers ... So definitely just clean up our act and hold onto the ball.”

Prairie lost that aforementioned Senior Night game a couple of weeks ago to Linn-Mar, but oddly got paired with the Lions for the first round of the 5A playoffs last week, a game Prairie won at John Wall Field, 50-28.

The entire Joens clan got together for a pregame pep rally.

“Just a magical night,” Scott Joens said. “A night I’ll remember a long time.”

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com