Although Wetmore dropped their first loss to Pawnee City in their home opener, the Cardinals regrouped, rebooted and reloaded as they hit the highway for a long road trip. Wetmore took their 1-1 record to Peabody to take on the 1-1 Peabody-Burns Warriors in 6-man action on Friday, Sept. 16. The Cardinals used a balanced attack on the ground and through the air, amassing 372 total yards and grabbed the road win, 46-6. 

“It was well worth the long bus ride to play our first district game and come home with a win,” said Head Coach Miles Hanzlicek. “The guys played really good especially on defense.”

The Cardinals’ defense shutout the Warriors in the first half, limiting positive yardage on the ground and allowing only two pass completions through the air the entire game.

“We moved some guys around on defense and I’m really happy with the results,” Coach Hanzlicek said.

“On offense, our ground game was working better, so we stayed with running the ball more. Dierk [Hanzlicek] ran tough with 149 yards,” Coach Hanzlicek said. “But we still aired the ball out a little with Jacob Carls getting 117 yards through the air.”

Wetmore built a sizable lead in the first half, posting 14 points in the first quarter and 18 points in the second to lead 32-0 at the break. Senior quarterback/running back Dierk Hanzlicek scored two rushing touchdowns in the first quarter, from four yards and 10 yards out, and senior Kyler Wommack successfully kicked one point-after-attempt in the effort. Hanzlicek had a 17-yard pass reception, from Wommack, for a touchdown early in the second period and rushed for his fourth score of the night later in the frame.

Senior Jacob Carls scored on 24-yard pass reception from Hanzlicek to start the second half. The Warriors lone score came in the fourth quarter on a 34-yard scoring strike through the air. The final score of the night was given to junior Weston Schultejans when he fell on fumble in the end late in the contest. Wetmore enjoys the victory over Peabody-Burns, 46-6.

“The biggest disappointment was the amount of needless penalties. We need to clean that up a bit,” Coach Hanzlicek said.

The Cardinals improve to 2-1 and look ahead to host the 1-2 Titans of Southern Coffey County High School on Friday, Sept. 23.