Demetrice Le Noir’s pick-six and a game-ending stop inside the five yard line highlighted Wright City’s season-opening win over Winfield last week.
The Wildcats (1-0) topped the Warriors 27-19 in Friday’s season opener at Winfield. Wright City stopped Winfield on two consecutive plays with Winfield threatening to tie the game.
On the second to last play of the game, sophomore safety Duan McRoberts came up from his safety spot to stop quarterback Conner Martin with the help of Wright City defender Draiden Edwards. Three or four Wildcat defenders stopped Martin at the four yard line on the last play of the game to clinch the win for Wright City. Winfield drove over 90 yards on the last drive before the Wildcats stopped them inside the five yard line.
“I was so happy for our guys,” Wright City football coach Tyler Rickard said. “The defense just came in super clutch right there. They were tired. It had been a really long game. It was a three hour game. Our guys were gassed and to be able to come up with one last stop to end it was just huge.”
The Wildcats claimed the lead early in the second half thanks to another strong defensive play. With the game tied at 13, Le Noir intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown on Winfield’s first possession of the half. Wright City defender Roman Adaway tipped the pass at the line of scrimmage. Le Noir intercepted the pass and scored untouched on the play.
“He (Le Noir) dropped into his zone just like he’s supposed to do,” Rickard said. “Roman did a good job of seeing the quarterback’s arm go up, put his hands up, tipped it and just made it that much easier for Demetrice to just grab it and go.”
The defensive touchdown helped the Wildcats regain the lead they held most of the first half. Wright City scored the first two touchdowns of the game to stake claim to an early 13-0 lead. Joey Gendron connected with Nathan Womack on a screen pass for an 18-yard touchdown to give the Wildcats an early 6-0 lead. McRoberts added a two-yard touchdown run to give Wright City a 13-0 lead.
“Defense and special teams were huge and just getting us good field position offensively helped us get two easy scores there right out of the gate,” Rickard said.
Winfield responded with a pair of second quarter scores to tie the game. The second score came on the final play of the half.
“Facing adversity at halftime with them scoring right before, and just the way our guys responded in the second half was huge,” Rickard said. “And the guys just didn’t allow that to deter them. They came right out and made a big play to give us the lead. We just gutted it out. It’s huge for the start of the season.”
McRoberts added a 15-yard touchdown run to five the Wildcats a 27-13 fourth quarter lead. Winfield scored one fourth quarter touchdown to trim the Wright City lead to eight points.
The Wildcats threw for 68 yards in the game. McRoberts completed 6-7 passes for 37 yards. He also ran for 59 yards and two touchdowns. Gendron went 3-9 passing for 31 yards and the touchdown. Jeremiah Davis led the Wildcat defense with five tackles.
Wright City’s home opener is slated for Friday. They will host Orchard Farm at 7 p.m.