Warriors thrash Central City to move on to quarterfinals
WACO’s Simeon Reichenbach keeps his balance on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022 against Central City. Reichenbach finished with three touchdowns in the 48-12 victory. (Hunter Moeller/The Union)
WAYLAND—Domination.
That’s what the No. 2 WACO football team has done throughout the 2022-23 season thus far.
On Friday night in their 8-player second round matchup against Central City they did not disappoint on their way to a 48-12 victory.
The Warriors had no issues with the Wildcats.
WACO held a tight grip over the game in the first half as rushing scores by Simeon Reichenbach and Louden Huisenga along with a seven-yard touchdown catch from Isaac Oswald to Oleh Shtefanchuk put the Warriors up 21-0 heading into the final minutes of the first helped.
Central City was able to get some momentum on the offensive end in the final minute, scoring on an 18-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-6 heading into halftime.
“We played really well in the first half,” WACO head coach Chad Edeker said. “We said at the half, hey guys we’re playing really well and we get the ball at half. Just keep going.”
WACO’s Isaac Oswald looks to break free from a Central City defender on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022 during the two 8-player round two matchup. (Hunter Moeller/The Union)
In the second half, Reichenbach took over, scoring all of the Warriors points.
On the Warriors first drive of the second half, Reichenbach took the kickoff past midfield and later punched it in from around 10-yards out.
“That was a huge drive to start the second half,” Edeker said. “That sort of set the tone and we continued from there.”
After a defensive stop he put a 35-yard field goal through the uprights.
He followed up with a 39-yard touchdown run in which he juked and jived his way pass a slew of Central City defenders.
On the next defensive possession he took an interception to the house from the Wildcat 23-yard line. He would end the scoring with another field goal in the fourth.
Central City found the end zone in the fourth, but the damage had been done.
“It feel pretty good (to advance),” Reichenbach said. “We just gotta take it one step at a time. That’s what we’ve done this whole year, taking it one step at a time.”
Reichenbach had a huge game, finishing with 151 yards and three touchdowns. He also had 45 yards receiving and two field goals.
Isaac Oswald had 89 yards passing and one touchdown. Mason Miller had 23 yards receiving and Shtefanchuk had 17 yards to go along with his one score.
WACO was stellar on both sides of the ball, specifically defensively, allowing just 104 yards rushing and 63 yards passing.
Coming into the game, Central City was averaging around 45 points per game.
The Warriors move to 11-0 with the win and will play on Thursday against No. 10 Montezuma for a trip to the UNI Dome.
WACO fell short in the quarter final last year.
“These guys expect to win,” Edeker said. “We walk in the locker room right now, they’d say they expect to win Thursday night, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing. We just gotta keep playing and doing what we’re doing right. We have a shot if we do that.”
