Frustration boiled over for the Wright City football team as they walked off the field Friday night at Orchard Farm. 

Simply put, the Wildcats knew they let a potential victory slip by. 

Multiple turnovers and penalties at inopportune times caused Wright City to drop a 13-6 non-conference road game to the Eagles. 

The defeat dropped the Wildcats to 1-1 on the season. They now must regroup heading into the start of play in the Eastern Missouri Conference with a road game at Mark Twain awaiting this Friday.

“It’s not a season-defining week, but we have to treat it like it’s the most important because it is,” Head coach Tyler Rickard said. “We have to come out this week and be prepared and ready to go because we need a good bounce back game here. Mark Twain is a good ball club. We have to be ready to go.”

Momentum could never stay on Wright City’s side throughout Friday’s contest.

The Wildcats’ first three drives to open the game ended on interceptions. Wright City appeared to have taken the lead midway through the opening quarter on a long interception return for a touchdown by Denzel Dowdy. However, the score was negated by a penalty. 

Trailing 7-0 late in the first half, Dowdy dropped a would-be touchdown on a fourth-and-7 play. 

“We really just needed something good to happen early to get the momentum and everything on our side,” Rickard said. “We just couldn’t make it happen tonight. Unfortunately, that happens at times.”

Nonetheless, Wright City’s defense kept the score close. The Wildcats stopped the Eagles on two fourth-down attempts, including one on their own two-yard line early in the third quarter.

Defensively, senior linebacker Carle’on Jones led the way with 13 tackles, including three for a loss and one sack. Senior linebacker Devin Myers had eight stops, including four for a loss and one sack, while sophomore linebacker Quinn Schnarre had 10 tackles.

The Eagles (2-0) extended its lead to 13-0 in the final seconds of the third quarter when a deflected pass in the end zone landed in the hands of junior wide receiver Jon Kennedy.

Wright City responded with its best drive of the game. The 17-play, 77-yard drive was capped on an 11-yard slant pass hauled in by junior wideout Duan McRoberts from senior quarterback Joey Gendron. The extra point kick was unsuccessful as the Wildcats closed the gap to 13-6 with 4:03 remaining.

After the ensuing onside kick was recovered by Orchard Farm, the Wildcats had another chance to set up a game-tying drive thanks to a key third-down sack by Myers. However, the Eagles’ punt was downed at the two-yard line with 2:44 remaining and Wright City’s final three passes fell incomplete.

McRoberts was a bright spot for Wright City, hauling in 10 passes for 81 yards and adding 40 yards on the ground on 10 carries. Gendron completed 12 of 25 passes for 87 yards and rushed for a team-high 45 yards. 

The Wildcats were outgained 283-188 in the game. 

“(Orchard Farm) did a good job of giving us fits up front,” Rickard said. “We started making some adjustments and had some success, but we had some issues with mistakes on our own part, holdings and other penalties that really set us back. We have to find a way when we execute to not shoot ourselves in the foot so that our drives can continue.”

This Friday Wright City will face Mark Twain, which opened the season with losses to Monroe City (32-16) and Winfield (38-18). Kickoff for Friday’s game is 7 p.m.

“As a coach, I’ve got to do a better job of putting our guys in more positions to be successful,” Rickard said. “Any loss is always on me. As a coach, I’m ultimately responsible. I’ve got to do a better job. We’ll go back this week and review what we did well, what we did wrong and we’ll improve for next week.”