Cats show gains, battle through tough losses

Carter Howell, Sports Editor • November 1, 2023

Junior running back Jayce Depriest stiff arms a Skyline defender to gain extra yards. Depriest rushed for 61 yards and two touchdowns as the Wildcats beat the Skyline Tigers, 34-6.

The Wildcats have had a good season, going 6-3 after winning their Oct. 20 game against the Buffalo Bison 43-6. On Oct.6, the Wildcats lost to the Butler Bears in a nail biter, 30-27. The Bears walked away as conference champs in this high stakes game.

The team gave the Butler Bears a tough battle, where it was a much closer game this season compared to last season where they lost 38-14.

The Cats also gave the fourth best team in class 2A football, Lafayette County, a tough battle as they only lost by five points, proving that the Cats can compete with the best of the best.

The Wildcats have a very youthful team this year with only five seniors. With having a young team it can be hard to have a lot of leadership within the team, but for the Cats that’s not a problem. A lot of juniors and underclassmen have stepped up to take on those leadership roles, as well.

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“It doesn’t matter how old someone is, it matters about who’s going to step up and take on that role of being a leader,” sophomore running back Josh Harvath said.

The Wildcats put in a lot of work in the off-season to be the best they can possibly be, a lot of them went to summer weights, went to the gym, and went to the football field to get extra reps outside of practice.

“During the off-season I went to the gym, I went to summer weights, I went to the field to throw to my wide receivers, and I talked to previous quarterbacks to improve my knowledge of the game and improve my knowledge of the quarterback position,” junior quarterback Garrett Ferguson said.

The expectations were high for the Cats this season, as they had a good season last year going 8-3. They were looking to do even better this season and possibly go even farther in the playoffs as well.

“The expectation this season is to do better than what we did last season and win a district championship,” senior center Devon Boul said.

“The expectation is for our kids to work hard every single week.If they do everything that’s expected of them week in and week out it puts us in a position to have success on game day,” Head Coach Ryan Boyer said.

The Wildcats have had a lot of recent injuries this season with junior wide receiver Shane Poyser missing a couple games due to a hamstring injury, sophomore running back Joshua Harvath dealing with a shoulder injury, and sophomore quarterback Brennan Slavens breaking his wrist in the final minutes of the fourth quarter in El Dorado Springs.

The Cats play their first round of district playoffs against the 0-9 Carrollton Trojans as they earned the second seed in the district.

About the Contributors

Carter Howell, Managing Editor - Sports

Carter Howell is a junior at Warsaw High School. This is his second year in journalism; he is the Sports Editor for the newspaper. Howell is involved on the golf team. Howell is interested in writing about school sports and other activities. His future plans are to go to college after high school.

Brylee Brewster, Contributor

Brylee Brewster is a junior and this is her second year on the yearbook staff. She enjoys writing about what’s going on in her school. Brewster is involved in softball, student council, and pep club. She likes to write about sports and what she’s passionate about. After high school Brylee plans on attending a university to play college softball.

Hailey Ferguson, Photo Managing Editor

Junior Hailey Ferguson is taking on her second year of being an editor, and third year of being a part of the Journalism family. This year she is the Photo Managing Editor. Ferguson is involved in volleyball, softball, basketball, and pep club. Outside of school she works at the Last Resort Campground, The Fix, and Country Charm. One of her greatest passions is to pursue a degree in elementary education. As of right now, she is hoping to go to Northwest. After college, she plans to keep working to be able to provide for her family. Her immediate family include her parents, Mike and Andrea and her siblings, Garrett, Kylee, and Avery. Ferguson is a very determined and hardworking person and ready to take on this next year on staff.