Week one of the high school football season is upon us. The Winfield-Mt. Union Wolves get 2020 underway tomorrow night when they take on the Tri-County Trojans. WMU is coming off of a 1-8 campaign in 2019. Their lone victory came in week two against River Ridge of Hanover, Illinois by a 76-46 score. The Wolves have to replace several key players that have moved on from a season ago through graduation. Quarterback Daunte Oepping had a big year under center in his final season, going 80 of 145 through the air for 1,188 yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions. He was also the leading rusher for WMU with 949 yards and 17 scores on 180 carries. The Wolves will also be without their second leading rusher from last season, Juanito Piper, who also graduated after a year with 55 carries for 315 yards and four touchdowns. Their leading returner on the ground is Andrew Brady after a junior year last season with 53 carries 227 yards and four touchdowns. Brady is also the leading receiver from a year ago with two catches. On the defensive side of the ball, the Wolves will be without their top five tacklers from a season ago. They will be led by Chance Malone with his 30 tackles last season.
Tri-County did not field a team last season. They were last in action during the 2018 campaign where they finished with an 0-9 record. The Trojans bring back Dayton Pace under center who served as back-up quarterback during the 2018 season. He was seven of 27 through the air for 71 yards and an interception. He also leads the TC ground game with 39 carries for 23 yards in their most recent season. Kobe Riffel is the leading returner in the receiving corps with three career catches. Ty Moore is back to lead the Trojan defense after 17 tackles in 2018. This week Winfield-Mt. Union head coach Scott McCarty talked about his team’s preparation for Tri-County. “We watched our film with them from 2018. We got some things off of that. We also got some film from other coaches that played them in 2018. We’re just trying to learn as much as we can about their tendencies. They look like a team that’s going to try to run the ball out of an I-formation with a wing. This first week, especially with a team we don’t know much about, it’s a great exercise for us for executing what we want to do on offense, regardless of what they might throw at us. So this week we’ll get a little creative on the fronts we show our offense. Defensively, can we remember our rules, line up correctly from there and execute?”
These two teams met last in 2018 with the Wolves taking a 72-0 victory. Action begins Friday at seven at Winfield-Mt. Union High School.