It’s starting to feel like 2015 in Winfield as the Wolves host the HLV Warriors in their regular season finale. As WMU looks to improve to 8-0 heading into the postseason, you can hear the action on the KCII Area Game of the Week.
The Wolves had the week off last Friday, due to a forfeit from Mormon Trail. In Week 6, WMU handled Iowa Valley 76-14, their third-straight game with 70 or more points. Jake Edwards connected on six of his seven passes, four of which found the endzone. Cam Buffington continued his dominant season rushing for 218 yards and two scores on just seven carries, while leading the defense with 13 tackles and 2.5 for a loss. Fellow-senior, Carter Loyd led the receivers with two touchdown grabs and Cole Milks punched it in three times along with 90 ground yards.
WMU enters the contest averaging 63 points per game, and their 53 total touchdowns is ninth-best in eight-man football. Running for 9.6 yards per carry, the Wolves are third in their class. Edwards’s 17 touchdowns are tied for ninth in eight-man, while he leads the class with 21.2 yards per completion. Milks has a team-high 12 rushing touchdowns, and his 72-yard run earlier in the season is the ninth-longest for an eight-man player. A defense allowing just 16 points per game has taken the ball away 13 times.
Buffington is tied for eighth in all-purpose yards with 1380, his 13.5 yards per carry tops the class, and he is seventh in total tackles with 64. He spoke with KCII earlier this week about the senior class, and the team’s goal of making a postseason run. “We’ve been together since kindergarten [or] first grade all playing together and I just feel like we’ve brought a brotherhood to the team. Ever since YSF, we told ourselves we were gonna be that team to make it back. To have that opportunity at our fingertips kinda just gives you the chills, so we’re really hungry.”
HLV travels to Winfield with a 1-7 record. The Warriors picked up their first win two weeks ago, but most recently fell to Iowa Valley 54-6. A pair of freshman standouts lead the way in Bryer Jack and Cael Weisskopf. Jack has thrown for 314 yards on 28 completions, while Weisskopf is the team leader in carries, rush yards, receiving yards, and total touchdowns. HLV averages 16 points per night and allows 46.
The Wolves defeated the Warriors both last year and in 2021. Prior to that, HLV had won five in a row between these two teams. WMU honors their seven seniors tonight, which includes Buffington, Milks, Loyd, Eli Miller, Jarit Tapia, Abram Edwards, and Kael Johnson. Coverage begins on the KCII3 stream with the Pregame Show at 6:30, followed by kickoff between the Wolves and Warriors at 7.