Red Raiders pull away to 40-6 win over Panthers

WAMEGO — Getting the ball to start the game, the Concordia Panthers marched 83 yards in nine plays and scored to take a 6-0 lead on the Wamego Red Raiders.
Following that opening drive, Concordia managed just 28 total yards on 24 offensive plays over its final seven offensive possessions as Wamego scored 40 straight points to capture a 40-6 North Central Kansas League victory Friday night.
Wamego, now 2-1 overall and 2-1 in league play, led just 14-6 at halftime.
Taking advantage of three Concordia turnovers, the Red Raiders put up 26 points over the final two quarters while holding the Panthers scoreless.
“Part of it was execution,” Concordia coach Jordan Echer said of the Panthers not being able to build on that momentum from the opening drive. “There is kind of the chess game of football, where, for us, with all of our guys playing both ways, how do we get them to the sideline to make adjustments that we need to make? So part of that is being able to make those adjustments quick enough. And then, when they make adjustments, us being able to  make new adjustments.”
Playing a third consecutive road game to open the season, the Panthers fall to 0-3 overall and in the NCKL with the loss.
Starting from their own 17-yard line on the opening possession of the game, Concordia went 83 yards in nine plays, all runs.
Concordia senior fullback Caleb Hanson capped off the drive with a 34-yard touchdown run with 7:26 to play in the first quarter.
The extra point attempt was no good, and the Panthers led 6-0.
Wamego responded with a 62-yard scoring drive.
The Red Raiders were facing a fourth down and two when quarterback Pruitt Nowlin threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Treyton Beckman with 3:14 to play in the opening period.
The extra point put Wamego on top to stay, 7-6.
The two teams exchanged punts, and Wamego put together an 11-play, 78-yard drive.
Brock Weeks hauled in a 24-yard touchdown pass with 4:02 left in the first half to give the Red Raiders a 14-6 lead.
Concordia was again forced to punt, but got a fourth down stop deep in its own territory.
Wamego got the ball to start the second half, and put together a 70-yard scoring drive.
Porter Smith scored on an 11-yard run to make it 20-6 with 9:58 remaining in the third quarter.
“They went up tempo and didn’t huddle in the second half, which was a compliment to our guys, because that was clearly their adjustment because we were playing well,” Echer said. “When they went up tempo, I think that really wore our guys down.”
Concordia was unable to move the ball offensively, but got a couple of defensive stops.
The two teams exchanged fumbles on back-to-back plays in the fourth quarter, and Wamego ended up with the ball in Panther territory.
Nowlin broke a 20-yard run on a fourth down and eight play. Porter scored on a 1-yard run two plays later to make it 26-6.
Concordia punted on its next possession.
Thomas McIntyre ripped off a 56-yard run on a second down play. He scored from three yards out one play later.
The extra point put the Red Raiders up 33-6 with 3:35 to play.
Wamego recovered another Concordia fumble.
Nowlin scored five plays later on an 8-yard run, and the extra point gave the Red Raiders a 40-6 cushion.
“You get to a point and you could tell who was still fresh, just that difference in everybody playing one way for them and us having everybody playing both ways,” Echer said. “Outside of the turnovers, that was probably the other big difference in the second half.”
Concordia ran just 32 offensive plays in the game, and finished with 101 yards of total offense, all on the ground.
Hanson finished with 85 yards on eight carries. He also had seven tackles, including two for loss.
Defensively, linebacker Dane Cleveland led the Panthers with 12 tackles.
Linebacker Mason Eickmann had 11 tackles.
Concordia will play its first home game of the season when it opens Class 3A District 5 play against Marysville on Friday night.
It will be Homecoming for the Panthers.
Marysville knocked off Chapman 21-8 for its first win of the season last Friday.
“We feel we have gotten better each week, regardless of what the scoreboard looks like,” Echer said. “The biggest thing for us at this point is staying healthy, but we definitely like where we are at going into districts.”