By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
After falling in their season opener to Clay Center (#5 in 3A), the Wamego football team rallied and never looked back, rattling off four straight wins to take a 4-1 record and the #5 ranking in Class 4A into the home stretch of their campaign.
Even against stout competition like 3-0 KC Washington and 3-1 Coffeyville, the Red Raiders have won these games in convincing fashion, outscoring those four opponents by a combined 141 points.
It seems the inevitable growing pains of a new core only lasted one week, as the defending 4A runners-up received their jolt early.
It was a wake-up call for sure, but we knew they would be tough,” Wamego head coach Weston Moody said. Anytime you win you get more confidence, but the loss we took gave us the sense of urgency that we needed and I was impressed with our ability to bounce back.”
Leading the charge is first-year quarterback Pruitt Nowlin, who had big shoes to fill after the tandem of Hayden Oviatt and Colin Donahue led the team to new heights last year.
So far it’s been relatively smooth sailing for the senior, who is completing 62% of his passes for over 700 yards and 7 touchdowns, adding another 73 yards and three scores on the ground.
The rushing stable of Thomas McIntyre, Porter Smith, and Tate Warren has also been excellent, as that trio averages seven yards per carry, tallying 13 touchdowns on the ground alone.
While Wamego’s offense has been rock solid this season, their defense has once again been a statistical marvel, ranking 1st in Class 4A in scoring defense (9 PPGA), and total defense (167 yds/GA).
All that is to say nothing of the eight turnovers forced by the Raider defense, complimented by five sacks and a whopping 24 tackles for loss.
Despite leading the state in most defensive categories and ranking second in pass defense and ninth in rush defense, Wamego is still committed to their pursuit of perfection on that side of the ball.
“We still need to continue to build upon our success schematically and defensively we need to shore up some of our weaknesses,” Moody said.
The Raiders will round out their regular season with a pair of road games at Shawnee Heights and Abilene with a home matchup with Clearwater sandwiched in-between.