Pekin routs Cardinal, WMU still tough

Week 1 has come and gone for the area’s small school football teams. Here is how the area fared in the first of many busy weeks of high school football.

Pekin 76, Cardinal 0

Pekin opened the season with a blowout win of arch rival Cardinal, led by 433 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. Nolan Glick ran for 141 yards and five scores. Will Adam ran for 111 yards and three touchdowns, while also throwing for one score.

Cardinal’s Zach Luedtke carried the ball 11 times for 19 yards to lead the Comet offense.

Highland 26, North Cedar 0

The Highland Huskies have now won three-straight games dating back to last year after a shut out win over North Cedar in Week 1.

Sage Hartley-Norman ran for 91 yards and two scores. Jose Ramirez went for 82 yards and a touchdown, and freshman Lim Roberts caught a 51-yard touchdown pass from Hartley-Norman

The Highland defense had three takeaways in the win, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

Winfield-Mount Union 40, Central City 28

In the first game since a UNI-Dome trip in 2023, Winfield-Mount Union showed its still for real.

The Wolves used a 20-0 first half to get past Central City. Lanae Genkinger ran for 50 yards and three touchdowns and also caught five passes for 89 yards and a score. He also recovered a fumble.

Jake Edwards threw for 177 yards and three touchdowns in the victory.

No. 9 (8-Player) WACO 66, Coon Rapids-Bayard 46 (Saturday)

The Warrior offense stayed red-hot as Clayton Miller threw for a ridiculous 339 yards and seven touchdowns at Valley Stadium. Isaac Rich had six catches for 134 yards and five scores, and Louden Huisenga rumbled for 95 yards and two scores as the Warriors moved to 2-0.

Easton Valley 40, New London 21

The Tigers led 21-20 at halftime, but couldn’t put up any points in the second half of a Week 1 loss.

Gavin Menke-Bailey ran for 82 yards and a touchdown, while also throwing for one score. Cale Westerbeck rushed for one touchdown, and Brigham Porter caught a touchdown pass.

Mediapolis 42, Columbus 19

The Wildcats couldn’t get things going gaainst Mediapolis despite 128 rushing yards and one touchdown on the ground from Riley Kaalberg. Tyson Kaalberg scored twice, taking both his passes from Trevor Phillips to the house for a total of 108 yards receiving.

Central Lee 13, Van Buren County 8

The Warriors broke a scoreless drought on a touchdown catch by Joseph Debner with 2:36 to go in the contest. A safety made it 13-8 and gave the Warriors the ball back, but VBC couldn’t take advantage.

  Buy Photo

The Warriors honored fallen teammate Rob Adams, who tragically passed away the weekend before. Many teams around the area paid respects to Adams, who was also a former Fairfield Trojan.

No. 4 (1A) Wilton 19, No. 8 (2A) Mid-Prairie 14

The Golden Hawks fell just short in a battle of ranked teams as Wilton scored the only 12 points of the second half to pull out a close victory.

Brady Weber threw for 195 yards and a touchdown in the loss. Hudson Ehrenfelt caught four passes for 97 yards and a score, and also found the end zone once on the ground.

No. 3 (2A) PCM 54, Sigourney-Keota 14

The Cobras couldn’t reign in one of the Class 2A favorites, falling at home in the season opener.

Isaac Bruns led Sigourney-Keota’s offense, rushing for 84 yards and one touchdown in the loss. Brady Clark ran for 53 yards.