Grant Lehmen knows that, while playing defense isn’t always glamorous, it is essential for a football team’s success.

Lehmen, a senior linebacker for Wright City, said that it was the “A.R.T.” form shown by himself and his unit, which played a vital role in turning the tide in the Wildcats’ 41-16 win over visiting South Shelby, a defending Class 2 state semifinalist, on Oct. 3 at America’s Heartland Stadium.

“The way our coaches explain it, defense is an ‘A.R.T.’,” Lehmen said. “The ‘A’ stands for ‘alignment and aggressiveness’ because that’s where we have to start. ‘R’ is for ‘reading, reacting, and running,’ meaning that once you see what’s happening, you go full force because, even if you make a mistake, you give it 100 percent. The ‘T’ is for ‘tackle, turnover, and touchdown’ because those are the three best things that can happen on defense.”

Lehmen’s words fit to a “T” as it was his turnover that effectively ended a track meet of a game and allowed the Wildcats (5-1) to settle in and then shut the Cardinals out.

With the Wildcats leading the defending Class 2 state semifinalist by five points at 21-16 and South Shelby driving in the second quarter, Lehmen stepped in front of a pass by opposing quarterback Chase Moellering and returned the interception to the Cardinals’ 5-yard line.

The ensuing 5-yard scramble by senior quarterback Dayton Humphreys, his second rushing touchdown of the game, gave the Wildcats the team’s first two-score lead and some breathing room with just over three minutes left in the half.

“It’s all about the fundamentals, Coach K (Wright City assistant John Klekamp) preaches that,” Wright City coach Tyler Rickard said. “They (South Shelby) came out and threw the book at us. They were able to false pull and mess with our linebackers’ reads. We made adjustments and were able to muddy it up and take away running lanes.”

With the defense solidified, Wright City continued to pull away with third-quarter touchdowns on long passes from Humphreys to senior Nate Turner of 82 yards and to sophomore Kaveon Schulte of 42 yards.

Humphreys said that seeing the defense firing as it was after a first-quarter shootout buoyed the offense.

“We came in, and we knew we’d have to play at a high level to win this game,” Humphreys said. “Offensively, we came out and executed really well. There are a couple of things we need to work on, but we’re just going to pick up the pace and keep rolling. It was great to see the defense do what it does.”

Wright City got off to a quick start in what was a back-and-forth opening quarter as, on the first play from scrimmage, junior running back Benji Rodriguez took the handoff and turned on the jets, slashing 56 yards into the end zone to put the Wildcats up after just 14 seconds.

After a score by the Cardinals gave the visitors a 1-point lead, Wright City went back to work.

Humphreys hooked up with Turner for an 18-yard score to make it 13-8 Wildcats.

South Shelby scored again to end a wild first quarter on the scoreboard with the Cardinals leading 16-13.

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 21-16 lead with six minutes left in the half. It was 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, Lehmen and company went to work on pitching the shutout over the final three quarters of play, starting with his all-important interception.

All told, Lehmen and senior defensive end Kaiden Pilcher recorded interceptions while senior lineman Jayden Henke recorded a fumble recovery.

Offensively, Wright City was led by Humphreys’ 10 completions and 242 passing yards. Turner led the receivers with 150 receiving yards, while Schulte added 80.

On the ground, Rodriguez led the way with 89 yards while Humphreys added 65.

Wright City will travel to Van-Far (5-1) at 7 p.m. this Friday for an Eastern Missouri Conference game. The Wildcats own a 15-6 record against Van-Far in the series, including a 40-34 loss to the Indians last year. The game begins a string of conference opponents, which includes games with Montgomery County (Oct. 17) and at North Callaway (Oct. 24).

“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.”