The Wright City football team faced its share of adversity before the Wildcats even took the field Friday.
Still without first-string senior quarterback Dayton Humphreys, the Wildcats were dealt …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, or you are a print subscriber who had access to our previous wesbite, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you have not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
If you are a current print subscriber and did not have a user account on our previous website, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
The Wright City football team faced its share of adversity before the Wildcats even took the field Friday.
Still without first-string senior quarterback Dayton Humphreys, the Wildcats were dealt a blow when junior backup Benji Rodriguez entered concussion protocol because of an injury suffered during the school day on Friday.
A little bit of early trickery and the solid play of sophomore, third-string quarterback Kayden McCurdy, paved the way for the 34-8 home win over Bowling Green in the teams’ Eastern Missouri Conference opener Friday at America’s Heartland Stadium.
“You really can’t prepare for something like this, and I was super nervous going into the game,” McCurdy said. “My team trusted me, and that really pushed me. I owe everything to my o-line tonight.”
On the game’s first play, Wildcats senior kicker Kaleb McCory recovered his own onside kick in a glimpse of the fire the team would show throughout, even if the scoring didn’t begin until late in the first quarter.
With 24 seconds left in the quarter, McCurdy capped an eight-play, 55-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge to lead 7-0 after McCory’s PAT. McCurdy’s biggest pass of the game, one of 27 yards to sophomore Kaveon Schulte, took the ball all the way to the Bobcats’ 3-yard line. Wright City coach Tyler Rickard said he had the utmost confidence in McCurdy.
“He’s a baseball player and we knew he had the arm to do it, and we felt like we had advantages on the edge,” Rickard said. “It was just a matter of getting protection in the backfield to give him time to let the receiver get the ball. He placed it perfectly, and Kaveon made a great catch.”
On the ensuing kick, Bowling Green scored its only points of the game on an 88-yard kickoff return for a score by senior Chase Buffington to see the first quarter out with Bowling Green holding the 8-7 lead.
The rest of the half and the game belonged to the Wildcats (2-1).
In the second quarter, McCurdy added another 1-yard run for a score with 7:59 left to make it 14-8, and Schulte added a 59-yard scamper down the left sideline to make it 20-8 with 2:43 left before halftime to round out the scoring in the half.
“The O line did a solid job,” Schulte said. “This, honestly, feels great.”
Coming out of halftime, McCurdy and Wright City picked up where they left off. The quarterback scored on a 13-yard keeper with 8:53 left in the third to make it 27-8.
McCurdy scored again with 2:24 left in the quarter as he ran the ball 35 yards up the middle to round out the score at 34-8.
The win snaps a four-game losing streak by Wright City to Bowling Green. Before Friday, the Wildcats' last victory over Bowling Green was a 6-0 home win in October 2019.
Now, the Wildcats will turn their collective attention to Homecoming on Thursday as Louisiana will visit in a 7 p.m. kickoff.
“Bowling Green has been a top team in this conference for a long time,” Rickard said. “We talked to the kids about being ready and playing with the same intensity next week and playing at the same high level.”
