The WACO Warriors came out on top in a battle of preseason ranked 8-man football teams to start their season, as 10th-ranked WACO held off number seven Fremont-Mills 26-20 Saturday night at Valley Stadium in Des Moines,

WACO was able to break up a tie game with a second-quarter touchdown, giving the Warriors a 12-6 lead at halftime. Both teams got another TD plus a two-point conversion in the third quarter, and WACO matched Fremont-Mills’ fourth-period score to get the close win.

On offense, new starting quarterback Clayton Miller had a strong debut, completing 12 out of 16 pass attempts for 160 yards and two touchdowns while also running for a TD. One of those scoring tosses was to senior Colton Leichty, who had a team-high five passes caught for 51 yards. The other was to junior running back Louden Huisenga, who led the Warriors with 133 yards rushing and a score on 19 carries.

Leichty also led the WACO defense with 11-and-a-half tackles, including two tackles for loss and an interception. Miller also picked off a pass, while junior Joel Meyer was second on the team with 5.5 tackles.

Along with winning the 2023 opener, the Warriors extend a streak of six straight years where they’ve won the first game of the season. WACO has also now won 18 straight regular-season games as they head into a Week Two battle with Iowa Valley.