Things couldn’t have started much worse for the Wright City football team against South Shelby during the Wildcats’ Homecoming game on October 2.

After the Cardinals started the game with a successful onside kick, the visitors scored on a long running play to take the initial lead.

That success was short-lived, though, thanks to the mindset of junior lineman Jayden Henke and his linemates.

“We took that personally,” said Henke of the long opening run. “As a line, it’s just a matter of getting your head in the game and using that to motivate yourself to keep going. If you let it get to you, it’ll mess you up.”

As it turned out, the 6-foot-4, 290-pound Henke, specifically, and his linemen, as a whole, did plenty to ‘mess up’ South Shelby in Wright City’s 31-20 win.

Henke and his offensive line protected the Wildcats’ offense well, and he and fellow junior defensive end Zamarion Rawlison wreaked havoc on the Cardinals.

The duo did so to the tune of 21 tackles, nine for loss, with Henke having 11 tackles and five for loss; he also had a sack, six quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery, while Rawlison had one of the team’s four interceptions. The others came from senior Benji Rodriguez, senior TJ Hamel and sophomore Ethan Weber.

So far this season, Henke has 35 tackles with a staggering 13 coming in the opponent’s backfield.

Henke’s efforts have come much to the delight of Wildcats’ Coach John Klekamp.

“There are going to be nights when that guy is the best player on the field,” said Klekamp of Henke. “You don’t always get to say that kind of stuff because people always talk about skill players. You know, ‘this guy that scores touchdowns’ or ‘this guy that throws touchdowns.’ … But there is one thing that remains the same: this game is won in the trenches. We’ve got to play against him every day (in practice) so we know how bad he is. Having him and Z (Rawlison) out there caused South Shelby, and pretty much every team they face, plenty of problems.”

With the opening drive in the rearview mirror, Henke, the line and the Wildcats’ offense went to work setting Wright City (2-4) up for success.

Whether it was junior quarterback Kayden McCurdy, who had 53 rushing yards and two scores, or it was Rodriguez, who amassed 120 of the team’s 174 rushing yards and a score, or junior wideout Kaveon Schulte, who had a touchdown reception, Henke and the offensive line were dominant.

“Jayden was absolutely massive for us,” said Rodriguez in the aftermath of the South Shelby win. “They refused to run the ball down the middle because of what he was doing. There’s just no point because Jayden is always there to make a tackle. On offense, we all always feel safe running behind him. I know he’s always going to clear the way for me. I’m proud of that man.”

With Henke as an anchor in the middle for the Wright City lines, the team will look to build upon back-to-back wins.

Up next, Wright City hosts Van-Far at 7 p.m., tomorrow (Friday). Last season, the Wildcats beat the Indians 55-26 in Vandalia.

Overall, Wright City leads the series 16-7, including winning nine of the last 10.

“They’re one of the smaller 11-man programs in the state,” Wright City Coach John Klekamp said. “I’ve known their coach a long time and he’s going to have them coming in here, ready to play. We will have to be (ready to play), too.”