The WACO Warriors battled back from their first second-half deficit of the season and punched their ticket to a state championship game for the first time in school history with a 29-22 victory over Newell-Fonda yesterday in the 8-man football state semifinals at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

WACO started the game by taking the opening drive and turning it into a 28-yard field goal by senior Simeon Reichenbach. The Warriors would increase the lead halfway through the second quarter when senior quarterback Isaac Oswald hit fellow senior Mason Miller for a 28-yard touchdown pass. After WACO added a two-point conversion, a long scramble from Newell-Fonda QB Mason Dicks kept the Mustangs’ ensuing drive alive, and he would find Wyatt Kreft for a 22-yard TD throw that made the score 11-7 going into halftime.

Newell-Fonda would strike first in the second half, with Dicks completing a long pass to Ryan Greenfield that set up Greenfield’s two-yard scoring run. Down 14-11 and needing a spark, WACO got it in the form of Reichenbach, who returned from what looked like a devastating knee injury that knocked him out of the game in the first half. He would help the Warrior offense summon a go-ahead scoring drive midway through the third quarter, capped by a 23-yard touchdown scamper from the running back. Reichenbach added a 20-yard field goal late in the third period that would push the lead to 22-14.

The senior delivered a potential dagger with four minutes to play when his second rushing TD, this one from 19 yards out, put WACO up 29-14. Newell-Fonda would score again on a pass from Dicks to Greenfield, but when the Mustangs got the ball back with under 3 minutes to play, they turned it over on downs to seal the Warriors’ first-ever state semifinal win.

Reichenbach’s return aided the offense, as he finished with 86 yards on 17 carries. But the real stars of the show were on the WACO defense. Senior lineman Colton Leichty was unstoppable, piling up 12-and-a-half total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and a whopping 4.5 sacks. Junior Chase Waterhouse also came up with four tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. Oswald had a solid passing day, completing 15 of 27 attempts for 197 yards as WACO improves to a school-record 13-0. The second-ranked Warriors will now face number-one St. Mary’s of Remsen for the 8-man state title next Thursday morning.