Picture by Brad Anderson
ABILENE – The Wamego Red Raider football team used old school football in their 38-14 victory over Abilene Friday night. Wamego finished with 322 yards of total offense with 270 of it on the ground. Senior Running Back, Thomas McIntyre, finished with 35 carries and 234 yards and 4 touchdowns. The Red Raider defensive was just as impressive as they held the Cowboys to 240 yards of total offense.
Wamego jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter lead as they scored on a pair of McIntyre 2 yard runs. Abilene narrowed the gap on a 29 yard touchdown reception by Junior, Weston Rock, with 8:34 to play in the half. Wamego answered with a 32 yard field goal by Brody Graber to extend the lead to 17-7 with 5:40 to play in the half. The Red Raiders then scored for the final time of the half on a 33 yard McIntyre run, to increase the lead to 24-7, with 3:13 play in the second quarter. The Cowboys got back in the game with a 5 yard reception by Rock with just 20 seconds in the half to cut the lead to 24-14 at halftime.
After a scoreless third quarter, Wamego got on the board with a Drew Erickson 6 yard reception from Quarterback, Pruitt Nowlin. That made the score 31-14 with 11:54 to play in the game. McIntyre added the final points of the night on an 11 yard run with 9:14 to play.
The Nex-Tech Wireless Offensive Player of the Game was Rock. He finished with 9 catches for 88 yards and 2 touchdowns. He now has 7 touchdown catches on the season. The Defensive P.O.G. was Sam Whitehair. Abilene fell to 6-2 with the loss. Despite the setback, the Cowboys will still finish in the top 4 in the 4A West Standings, which guarantees them homefield through the first two rounds of the postseason. Wamego finished the regular season with a 6-2 record.
