The KCII Area Game of the Week made its return to the gridiron Friday night as WACO took down Central City 51-36 behind a stellar early-season offensive and defensive effort. The Wildcats got the ball first, and they wasted no time finding the end zone with a two-play, 65-yard drive that saw senior star Matthew Klostermann take a direct snap 63 yards to pay dirt. On the first possession of the season for WACO, they were turned away on downs. They would get redemption right back, though, when Senior Joel Meyer recovered a Central City fumble deep in Wildcat territory. It took two plays for WACO to get their first score of 2024, when Louden Huisenga punched in a one-yard score to make it 7-6 with a Niles Reichenbach extra point. Both sides found the end zone once more to make it a 14-12 game after one quarter. Central City finished the first quarter outgaining WACO 173-59 in total yards. WACO began to open things up in the second quarter, outscoring Central City 17-0 via a Clayton Miller pitch-and-catch to Isaac Rich and a 36-yard connection to Senior Gage Samo. A 36-yard Niles Reichenbach field goal would give the Warriors a 31-12 halftime advantage they would never relinquish. In a third quarter that saw four Central City drives end in a punt, a fumble, a punt, and a punt, WACO boosted their lead to 45-12 by the end of the third. WACO would score once more in the fourth when Hayden Shelman returned a kickoff for a touchdown. Central City would put up 24 points in the fourth, but the gap was still too much to overcome.

WACO finished the night with 235 total yards, 160 through the air, and 75 on the ground. Clayton Miller went 14/21 with 160 yards and three touchdowns. Louden Huisenga had six carries for 73 yards and three touchdowns, as well as caught four passes for 42 yards. Gage Samo had four receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown. For Central City, they had 354 total yards, 276 on the ground with 78 through the air. Quarterback Matthew Klostermann had 20 carries for 209 yards and three touchdowns paired with one reception for 33 yards and a touchdown. Backup quarterback Kaleb Walker went 4/9 passing with 78 yards and a touchdown throw to Klostermann.

WACO Head Coach Chad Edeker joined KCII Sports in the postgame show to talk about the win. “That’s a lot of WACO Football. Our defensive did a good job after the first two series. We had the first two series where we gave up the big play and then we gave up a drive for a touchdown. They got 12 points right away. After that, our defense really settled down, starting playing well.”

With the win, WACO starts the 2024 campaign at 1-0, while Central City drops to 0-1. The KCII Area Game of the Week will pack up and head to Winfield next Friday night for a date between the Wolves and Central City Wildcats.