Wamego Breaks it Open in 2nd Half, Tops Concordia Panthers 40-6

The Wamego Red Raiders rushed for four second-half touchdowns Friday, September 15th to break the game open and beat the Concordia Panthers 40-6 in North Central Kansas League play.

Wamego scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, sandwiched around three fumbles lost by Concordia, to turn a 20-6 game into a runaway.  Meanwhile, Concordia was limited to two first downs in the second-half.

Wamego Senior Quarterback Pruitt Nowlin threw two first-half touchdowns.  He found Senior Wide Receiver Treytan Boeckman on a 21-yard touchdown on a 4th-and-2 in the first quarter, and later connected with Senior Tight End Brock Weeks on a 24-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter that made it 14-6 at the halftime break.

Concordia put together a 9 play, 83-yard drive in the first-half, punching it in the end zone on a speedy 34-yard run by Senior Fullback Caleb Hanson for their only score of the night.

Hanson led the Panthers in rushing with 9 carries for 85-yards.  Concordia ended the game with just 101 total yards of offense, all of it accumulated on the ground.

Wamego Senior Running Back Porter Smith scored two touchdowns in the second-half, collecting his first on an 11-yard jaunt in the third quarter, putting the Red Raiders up 20- 6.  Smith later coasted into the end zone on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Wamego Senior Running Back Thomas McIntyre rushed for a 3-yard score in the fourth quarter, while Nowlin finished off the scoring with a 7-yard running touchdown with 1:46 to play.

The Red Raiders started four second-half drives on Concordia's side of the field, including three drives from inside the Panthers' 30-yard line.

The Concordia Linebacker unit, led by Senior Mason Eickmann and Junior Dane Cleveland, played spectacular while being asked to do more in coverage than ever before with Panthers Senior Cornerback Payton Breese sidelined with an injury.  Cleveland had 12 total tackles, while Eickmann had 11 tackles, including 9 solo stops, 2 tackles for loss and an interception.

Eickmann was named our Nex-Tech Wireless MVP of the Game.

Hanson had 7 tackles with two tackles for loss.  Freshman Linebacker Drake Blochlinger also recorded 7 tackles.  Junior Defensive End Tracer Murdock, returning to the lineup after missing last week's game due to illness, notched another tackle for loss.  Murdock currently has four stops behind the line of scrimmage this season.

Junior Cornerback Drew Sterrett forced a fumble, which was recovered by his older brother, Senior Linebacker Dustin Sterrett.  Drew Sterrett, a key figure in the Panthers' offense, defense and special teams, was named the recipient of our H&R Block of the Game.

Following three straight road games to start the 2023 season, the 0-3 Concordia Panthers will host their home opener on Friday, September 22nd when they face the 1-2 Marysville Bulldogs in their first Class 3A District 5 game.  After dropping back-to-back games to Abilene and Wamego to start the year, the Bulldogs picked up their first win of the season Friday night in a 21-8 home win over the Chapman Irish.  Kick-off is scheduled for 7 pm.  Live coverage of the game can be heard on 1390 KNCK, 98.3 FM and NCKToday.com.