After a slow start, the Wright City football team got rolling on Friday.
After visiting South Shelby recovered an onside kick to start the game and scored on its subsequent possession, Wright City got rolling.
The Wildcats earned four of the next five scores, led by two touchdowns at halftime and earned the 31-20 win over the Cardinals on Homecoming.
“We did,” said quarterback Kayden McCurdy of taking the slow start personally. “We practiced against that formation all week. No one called it out there. We called it out later in the game but on that play we just didn’t see it.”
Down 6-0, Wright City (2-4) scored twice before the end of the first quarter to take the lead.
Kayden McCurdy found Kaveon Schulte with a 12-yard pass and, after Sam Sherman’s extra point, Wright City led 7-6.
Just before the quarter’s end, McCurdy scored on a 1-yard dive to make it 14-6.
South Shelby (4-2) scored just a minute into the second quarter to, after a successful 2-point try, tie the game at 14.
That’s where Wright City went back to work.
A pair of long runs helped the Wildcats earn a cushion headed into the half.
First, Benji Rodriguez broke a few ankles and even more tackles as a 79-yard run made it 21-14 Wildcats with 5:57 left in the half.
Next, McCurdy took a keeper 70 yards for a score with 3:21 left in the second to push the score to 28-14. It was the lead the team would hold at intermission.
“In the past we, as a team would have had trouble with that,” said Rodriguez of dealing with South Shelby’s comeback. “We’ve been working so hard on this new mindset. For us, the most important play is the next play and, whatever happens, you have to respond.”
After Wright City forced a turnover on downs to start the second half, the Wildcats matched the ball deep into South Shelby territory where Sheman converted a 30-yard field goal with 5:14 left in the third to make 31-14 Wildcats.
It was the only score of the quarter.
With South Shelby marching toward the Wright City end zone to open the fourth quarter Jayden Henke recovered a fumble to stall the drive.
“We knew we couldn’t let their starter get into our heads,” Henke said. “We used it as motivation and we just kept going. We kept playing.”
One last gasp for the Cardinals in the fourth saw the team head deep into Wright City territory only to have TJ Hamel record an interception.
The meeting was just the second between the programs. Last season, Wright City won 41-16 in a game also played at Wright City.
Up next, Wright City hosts Van-Far at 7 p.m., next Friday. Last season, the Wildcats beat the Indians in Vandalia by the 55-26 score.
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.”
