Friday was a whirlwind of a day for Wright City sophomore Kayden McCurdy.

After spending the week preparing for his usual workload as one of the team’s running/defensive backs, things were turned upside down when he spoke with the Wildcats’ coaching staff early that afternoon.

That’s when he found out the team’s No. 2 quarterback, junior Benji Rodriguez, had entered concussion protocol after an injury in gym class. With the normal starter, senior Dayton Humphreys, serving a suspension, that meant the control of the offense would rest with McCurdy.

“I found out about 2:15 and I was really nervous because you can’t really prepare for something like that,” McCurdy said. “It was more than I thought it would be. I was a little more nervous after that first snap than I was before. What really helped me was that my team trusted me, and that’s what really pushed me. It helped me get through it.”

McCurdy repaid the faith his teammates and coaches showed him in deftly leading the Wildcats to the 34-8 win over visiting Bowling Green at America’s Heartland Stadium in the team’s Eastern Missouri Conference opener.

With both teams mired in a scoreless tie late in the first quarter, McCurdy showed off his arm in finding sophomore Kaveon Schulte for a 33-yard strike to the Bobcats’ 3 before finding the end zone on his own with a 1-yard run with 24 seconds left in the quarter.

“That was just my receiver making an adjustment,” McCurdy said. “He made a great catch. This entire win was a team effort. We worked hard, worked well together, and got it done.”

For all the work Schulte did on coming down with the catch, Wright City coach Tyler Rickard gave credit to McCurdy for not only placing the pass where he did but putting the right pace on the ball to put it in a position for Schulte to make the reception.

The coach even credited a little bit of cross-training for paying off for the new QB.

“He’s a baseball player and we knew he had the arm to do it, and we felt like we had advantages on the edge,” Rickard said. “It was just a matter of getting protection in the backfield to give him time to let the receiver get the ball. He placed it perfectly, and Kaveon made a great catch.”

After Bowling Green took the lead on the ensuing 88-yard kickoff return for a score and subsequent two-point conversion, McCurdy and the Wildcats went back to work.

McCurdy added a second 1-yard score just over three minutes into the second quarter to help the team retake the lead.

With the lead restored, the rest of the Wildcats backed McCurdy up in blowing the game wide open.

Schulte added a 59-yard scamper down the left sideline to make it 20-8 with 2:43 left before halftime to round out the scoring in the half.

“The O line did a solid job,” Schulte said. “This, honestly, feels great.”

Coming out of halftime, McCurdy and Wright City piled on. The quarterback scored on a 13-yard keeper with 8:53 left in the third to make it 27-8.

McCurdy scored again with 2:24 left in the quarter as he ran the ball 29 yards up the middle to round out the score at 34-8.

In total, McCurdy’s stellar stat line in his debut at quarterback read: 181 rushing yards and four scores on 26 carries. Schulte added robust numbers with six carries for 74 yards and the score, and 33 receiving yards.

For as new as McCurdy’s efforts were to the team’s success, a familiar entity – the team’s hard-nosed defense – replicated earlier successes by stonewalling the Bobcats in not allowing a touchdown, other than the special teams score.

Senior defensive back Lavarious Green and Ben Gomez each collected interceptions, while senior linebacker Grant Lehmen added two sacks.

Gomez said the trust the unit has in each member and the work that everyone puts in has Wright City in a position to find a continual level of success.

“We keep working our butts off, staying locked in and trusting everybody,” Gomez said. “We know we just need to go out and keep (meeting) our everyday goals. We know we need to stay disciplined and do our jobs really well.”

With a win over a perennial EMO power in hand – a first in five games for the Wildcats over the Bobcats, Wright City will turn its focus to Homecoming and to another conference rival in Louisiana (1-2 overall, 0-1 EMO).

Even though Wright City owns back-to-back wins over the Bulldogs – a team that hasn’t secured a winning season in more than a decade – Rickard stressed the need not to let the pomp and circumstance of Homecoming sidetrack the team from its mission.

“That was the challenge before we even left today,” said Rickard of sending his team off the field with an important message. “We have to bring that same intensity. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is. If we want to be a great team, which we aren’t there yet, we have to play every game like we’re playing the best team.”