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Warriors’ home field advantage has aided unbeaten run
WACO looks for huge win in front of excited fan base
Andy Krutsinger
Nov. 2, 2021 8:24 am
WAYLAND — As WACO junior Simeon Reichenbach reflected on the Warriors’ first round win over Edgewood-Colesburg at the start of the Class 8-Player football playoffs, he recalled the pop from the home crowd.
“The excitement is out of this world,” he said. “I had never heard the fans cheer that loud before.”
It was WACO’s fifth home win of the year, a 39-36 victory. If the Warriors get to six on Thursday, they’ll be headed north to Cedar Falls less than one week later.
“It means a ton,” said Warrior head coach Chad Edeker. “There were times we could not communicate with our own players because our student section was so loud. It was awesome.”
A sign in the Warriors’ student section caught the eye of Edeker, as well as a few others on the WACO sideline.
“It said, ‘be loud or go sit with your mom,” Edeker said. “I just thought that was hilarious. They did a great job of supporting us.”
But last week, in the Round of 16, the Warriors weren’t able to play on their home field. Due to playing another undefeated district champion, in Martensdale-St. Marys, the site was determined by alphabetical order, one of the few tiebreakers WACO doesn’t hold.
The Warriors still marched on, blasting the Blue Devils 50-7 to move on to the quarterfinals. That was, of course, partially due to the visiting crowd, which traveled over two hours to get to the game.
“For being two hours and 15 minutes away, you would have thought it was a home game,” Edeker said. “Our side was packed, and about a third of the home stands were WACO people.”
But Edeker still wanted one last home game, and when the matchups came out on Saturday, it was confirmed. The road to the Dome will run through Wayland, Iowa.
“We wanted that home game,” Edeker said. “To get one last home game, that's huge.”
The Warriors knew they’d get to play at home if Audubon knocked off Montezuma. A Montezuma win would have put the Warriors back on the road.
WACO’s road to Cedar Falls sure wouldn’t be an easy one. The seventh-ranked Warriors will play a No. 5 Audubon team that has wreaked havoc on its first two playoff opponents.
Win, lose or draw, however, WACO knows it will have a sea of blue on its side from kickoff to the final buzzer.
“Our community is super excited,” Edeker said. “It's just been great, the texts we receive and the buzz in town is just fun.
Some young WACO fans twirl their sweatshirts around in celebration of a big play of the Warriors’ playoff win over Edgewood-Colesburg last month. (Andy Krutsinger/The Union)
A sign reads ‘Be loud or go sit with your mom’ outside of the WACO student section during the Warriors’ 2021 Class 8-Man playoff opener against Edgewood-Colesburg. (Andy Krutsinger/The Union)
WACO running back Simeon Reichenbach looks for a hole during the Warriors’ playoff game against Edgewood-Colesburg in October. (Andy Krutsinger/The Union)