After losing to Lafayette County (Higginsville) for three straight years, one of those coming in the state tournament (2021), the #9 Wildcats staged a second half rally and avenged those prior losses with a 21-16 come-from-behind win over the (then) #4 ranked Huskers on Friday night in front of a large and raucous crowd in the team's home opener at Randy Morrow Field.
With the undefeated Wildcats welcoming the unbeaten Huskers to town, the stage was set for a showdown of two top-10 teams and the anticipation throughout the week assisted in drawing Warsaw football fans out to see the legitimacy of Coach Ryan Boyer's 2024 squad.
And if they hung around until the final horn, those fans got everything they asked for.
Lafayette County won the coin toss and chose to receive the opening kickoff and quickly got on the board after handing the ball to Carter Wallpe on a series of runs to get them across midfield. A defensive pass interference call put the ball on the Wildcats 22 yard line and that drive ended when Wallpe scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. Cody Gast hit the PAT and the visitors took a 7-0 lead with 5:59 left in the first.
There wasn't much running room for Warsaw against the big front line of the Huskers and on a big fourth down early in the game from the 29 yard line of Lafayette County, 'Cats quarterback Garrett Ferguson was stuffed behind the line of scrimmage and the Huskers took over on downs at their own 35 yard line.
Another heavy dose of Wallpe on the Huskers' next drive opened the second quarter but the Wildcats defense came through to force a punt to put the offense back on the field.
The run game moved the ball out towards midfield but that Warsaw drive was halted when a fumble was recovered by the Huskers and the defense of the Wildcats was tested again.
After moving the ball to the 10 yard line of Warsaw, a couple of costly penalties moved them back and the Huskers settled for a 35-yard field goal by Gast to take a 10-0 lead with just 3:18 to go in the opening half.
With another Wildcats drive stalled and forced to punt, the Huskers would take possession. However, it was the Wildcats defense once again that came through when Sean Reinertsen picked off a pass from Page, the Huskers signal caller and set-up shop for Warsaw at the 37 yard line. It took just one play for the Wildcats to take advantage when Ferguson spotted a wide-open Jase Hubert on the left side of the field to put Warsaw on the board. Logan Gemes came in to nail the PAT and the Wildcats trailed just 10-7 at the half.
With the opening possession of the second half, Warsaw had a touchdown erased after an offensive pass interference call but the 'Cats rebounded and took their first lead of the game midway through the third period on a 2-yard touchdown run by Josh Harvath. Gemes was good for the PAT once again and the 'Cats had their first lead at 14-10 to close out the third, much to the delight of a packed stadium.
The Warsaw defense was turned up in the final frame and continued to keep the Huskers offense in check. A big turnover on downs early in the quarter put the offense back on the field and later, Harvath scored again on a 9-yard TD run to extend the Wildcats lead. Gemes' PAT was successful and Warsaw led 21-10.
Lafayette County tacked on a late score on a 46-yard touchdown reception from Page to Mariano Rodriguez, but the Wildcats defense held tough late to help the Wildcats pickup one of their biggest wins in recent program history, 21-16.
Jayce Depriest picked up 90 chunk yards on just 6 carries while Ferguson had 44 and Harvath finished with 34 with the 2 TD's. Ferguson also completed 3 of 5 passes for 66 yards and 1 TD.
Drake Murrell had 2 receptions for 29 yards and Hubert had 1 catch for 37 and 1 touchdown.
Gemes was good on all 3 of his point-after-try's.
Murrell led the defense with 9 tackles while Hubert recorded 7.5. Luke Henderson had 6 and Harvath and Depriest both finished with 5.
Reinersten had the interception for Warsaw.
The Wildcats will host Homecoming 2024 this week when they welcome Sherwood to town for another OHC matchup. That game is set for a 7:00 PM kickoff at Randy Morrow Field on the campus of WHS and can also be viewed live on BCE TV.
Sherwood comes in with a record of 2-1. They began their season with a loss to Adrian (43-8) before rattling off wins in their last two games; at Butler (34-28 and versus Cole Camp (36-6).
