With the offense having garnered much of the attention during the first two weeks of the season, Wright City’s defense saw the opportunity to shine last Friday.

Not that the offense struggled any during a 48-6 thrashing of Christian High School of O’Fallon. But the first year varsity program presented a welcome challenge for the Wright City defense, as it operated out of the spread.

The Wildcats held Christian quarterback Brendan Norwine to just nine of 21 passing, limiting the Eagles to 47 yards through the air. 

“The defense played outstanding,” said Weir. “You’re going to give up yards against a spread offense. That’s the idea of it. But they got one touchdown, and that was it. Coach (Matt) Brooks did an awesome job with these guys.”

Norwine was perhaps the most athletic and mobile threat Wright City had seen this season but his waves of success couldn’t make up for the Wildcats dominance on the line. In what has sort of become Wright City’s ammo, the boys in the trenches wore down Christian’s linemen, tearing gaping holes for the backs to scurry through.

Senior Trent Davis surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season, compiling 355 yards on 35 carries. Delante Blanks added 81 yards on 10 carries.

The Wildcats were forced to alter their game plan on the line. Coach James Weir says the Eagles were blocking low or “undercutting” disabling the lead blockers from breaking through the first level of the defense. Wright City had to settle into a more patient offense, eating away yards four to six yards at a time. 

“We just adjusted to it,” said Weir. “What it basically amounted to was it just took a few more plays to get down the field than Trent breaking off to the outside.”

While it didn’t match the frequent first-down production of recent games, the deliberate running game was enough for the victory.

“Our offensive line and backs, again, did the same thing,” said Weir. “They did a great job of staying on their blocks and just pushing the line forward.”

The 3-0 start is a program first for Wright City in its nine-year history.

Davis opened the Wildcats’ scoring on an 11-yard touchdown run during their opening drive of the game. 

The defense held on the next two drives, before Davis scooted in from two yards out early in the second quarter. The scoring drive was set up by a Cody Cox interception, as the Wildcats exploited holes in Christian’s passing game.

“They’ve got some nice skill kids out there,” said Weir. “Our DBs did a good job of staying on them. I really thought some of their drops were a direct result of our kids being right there on them. I think they could hear the footsteps and were afraid of getting hit.”

Another interception, on a tipped pass caught by senior linebacker Mike Abrolat, put the Wildcats in scoring position again. Abrolat returned the pick for a touchdown but a penalty negated the score. A few plays later, Davis danced back into the end zone on a one-yard run.

Linebackers Shawn Helfer and Abrolat have experience flying around in the secondary and admit craving the thought of hauling in a pick.

“Michael and Shawn are ex-defensive backs,” said Weir. “When you’ve got kids like that playing out there at linebacker with good hands, you’re in good shape.”

Abrolat says he felt the Wright City contained an offensive style it doesn’t typically face.

“I think we handled it pretty well,” said Abrolat. “We’re not usually a pass coverage defense, because we have a running offense.”

Wright City took a 20-0 advantage into halftime.

The Wildcats added to that margin on their opening drive of the second half, with Davis scoring on a four-yard run. Christian answered on the ensuing possession, converting on a fourth-and-one situation. Norwine escaped on a 36-yard touchdown run with 5:45 left in the third period.

Wright City needed just four plays for Davis to burst back into the end zone on a 20-yard run.

Davis’ work was not complete, as he broke a 90-yard scoring run to end the third quarter.

Wright City’s line was able to gain the upper hand as the game progressed.

Senior quarterback Brandon Bote fell short on the Wildcats’ lone passing attempt of the game.

“We’ve got things to correct, that still need to be polished up and be better,” said Weir. “The goal is to keep getting better, because Bowling Green is waiting down the path, and they won’t care what our record is whenever we get there.”