Things weren’t going well for the Wright City football team as it approached halftime on Oct. 17.

While the Wildcats trailed opposing Montgomery County by just eight points, the deficit felt much larger because the home team couldn’t get much going on offense.

The team needed a spark, and that’s when defensive captain and senior Quinn Schnarre turned to sophomore Kayden McCurdy.

He asked McCurdy to speak in his place, and the resulting speech helped spur a comeback as the Wildcats forged a 20-all tie with a pair of fourth-quarter scores before eventually falling 26-20 in overtime.

“Going into halftime, I gave a speech to our team preaching family,” McCurdy said. “We weren’t together. We were just getting after each other. Being an underclassman, it means a lot (to be asked to speak). I didn’t know if they would listen to me. I asked Quinn if I should do it, and he said they’d listen to me. I was really hoping the guys would listen and respond to our words, and they did.”

McCurdy’s words were taken to heart by his teammates as the team scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to earn the tie.

A 6-yard score by senior quarterback Dayton Humphreys with 10 minutes left brought the Wildcats closer, and a 1-yard score from McCurdy tied the game with 6:43 to go.

Schnarre, who has been out with an ankle injury which he hopes to return from for the regular season finale this week, said that he knew the team would have no trouble responding to the sophomore because when a family member speaks up, those around him listen.

“The love and the unity on this team are something I’ve never been a part of. We’ve got something real special here,” Schnarre said. “Just to see how much everyone left on the field. I’m super confident that, going forward, we’re going to keep pushing forward. We’re a family here and we do (play for each other).”

With the emotional side of things in check, Wright City Coach Tyler Rickard said that the team managed to clean things up on offense and move the ball.

While the team couldn’t find the all-important final score, the coach said he felt the game was easily within his team’s collective grasp until slipping away late. It was something that few would have dreamed possible after a rough first half.

“We did some really nice things coming out of the half; our short passing game worked well,” Rickard said. “We just couldn’t make a play when we needed it there at the end. I thought we had a chance (to win it) with four minutes left if we could have just got going and gotten a first down.”

In the first half, all Wright City (6-2 overall, 4-1 Eastern Missouri) could muster was a 7-yard run from Humphreys with 4:52 left in the opening half. It was sandwiched between a pair of scoring runs by Montgomery County senior quarterback Adrian Combs.

Combs tallied four scores, including the 1-yard blast to end the game in overtime after Montgomery County stopped the Wright City offense on its OT possession.

Statistically, Wright City was led by Humphreys’ 183 passing yards and two rushing touchdowns. McCurdy led the team on the ground with 33 yards and a score, and sophomore Kaveon Schulte added 100 receiving yards.

On defense, junior linebacker Evan Baum’s six tackles led the way while senior cornerback Terrance Love and sophomore defensive lineman Jayden Henke each recorded an interception.

Wright City will head to EMO conference leader North Callaway (7-1, 5-0) for its final game of the regular season. The kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. on Oct. 24.

Even with the defeat, Wright City can earn a share of the EMO Conference title. A win at North Callaway would set the Wildcats up with identical 5-1 marks with North Callaway and, possibly, Montgomery County.

The last time Wright City was in this position, it shared the title with the other two schools during the 2019 season.

Rickard said he fully expects his team to show the grit it did during the comeback next week and on into the MSHSAA playoffs.

“The guys never gave up tonight,” Rickard said. “They stayed resilient, even when it was tough. There were moments that presented themselves for us to give in, but we didn’t. I’m proud of them for that.”