The Wright City football team made a statement Friday.
The Wildcats not only won the team’s fifth game in succession but also defeated a Class 2 semifinalist from one season ago in the …
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The Wright City football team made a statement Friday.
The Wildcats not only won the team’s fifth game in succession but also defeated a Class 2 semifinalist from one season ago in the process in beating South Shelby 41-16 at America’s Heartland Stadium.
“We came in, and we knew we’d have to play at a high level to win this game,” senior quarterback Dayton Humphreys said. “Offensively, we came out and executed really well. There were a couple of things we need to work on but we’re just going to pick up the pace and keep rolling.”
Wright City (5-1) got off to a quick start as, on the first play from scrimmage, junior back Benji Rodriguez took the handoff and turned on the jets 57 yards into the end zone to put the Wildcats up after just 14 seconds.
After a score by the Cardinals (1-5) gave the team a 1-point lead, Wright City went back to work.
Humphreys hooked up with wideout Nate Turner for a 17-yard score to make it 13-8, Wildcats.
South Shelby scored again before a 3-yard run by Humphreys midway through the second quarter, and a wild 2-point pass from senior Ben Gomez to sophomore Jonathan Cole after a botched snap gave the Wildcats a lead the team wouldn’t relinquish.
“I knew someone was open,” said Gomez of his pass. “I threw it as hard as I could and took the hit. We got the two points and moved on. This win feels really good.”
From there, Wright City poured it on an outmanned South Shelby side.
Humphreys added a 5-yard run to make it 27-16 at the half before long third-quarter scoring strikes – Humphreys to Turner for 82 yards and to sophomore Kaveon Schulte for 41 yards – blew the game open and accounted for the final score at 41-16.
Up next, Wright City will travel to Van-Far at 7 p.m., next Friday, for an Eastern Missouri Conference game. The Wildcats own a 15-6 record against Van-Far in the series, but the Indians did win last year’s game at Wright City by a 40-34 score.
“We’ve got three straight conference games and, obviously, the next one is the most important because it’s the first one,” Rickard said. “All three of these teams beat us last year by a score or less.”
