Wetmore Cardinal Football Team

After teaming up with another school in a co-op for years the Wetmore Cardinals three years ago brought back their own team and started with a JV 8-Man season then had their first varsity season last year since 1987 finishing 0-9. This year the Cardinals looked to build off last year’s experiences and translate that to the field and challenge for wins and a win came in week one of this season.

The Cardinals were flying high on Friday night as they took down Valley Falls 60-18 in the season opener. Wetmore opened the scoring but led just 16-12 at the end of the first quarter and fell behind 18-16 early in the second quarter but scored the final 44 points of the affair to win in convincing fashion.

Capitalizing on eight Valley Falls turnovers the Cardinals made the best of their opportunities and overcame some of their own mistakes in the contest. Kyler Vance helped led the charge for the Cardinals rushing for 98 yards on 14 carries with three touchdowns, while catching a 27-yard touchdown pass also from Joel Hutfles and on defense returned a fumble for a score, while recording 12 tackles and two sacks. Hutfles was 4-11 for 45 yards with two touchdowns and ran for 85 yards on 11 carries with a 45-yard touchdown, while recording 19 tackles. Ethan Osterhaus and Chanler Morfitt each visited the endzone also for Wetmore as Osterhaus caught a 14-yard touchdown pass and Morfitt returned a fumble for a score.

The Cardinal defense while giving up over 300 yards in the contest held Valley Falls to just 71 yards on the ground and recovered five fumbles, snagged three interceptions and had five sacks.

While Vance, Hutfles and Osterhaus helped lead the charge Morfitt along with Jonathan Hladkey-Bailey, Dakota Johnson, Beau Henninger, Kael McQueen, Ross Shumaker and Cooper Duryea all made plays. Landon Blue and Britton Myers are also part of the Cardinals squad.

The win gives the Cardinals a huge building block from the rest of the season and future along with being a big win for the community. Wetmore continues the football season on Friday, September 8th when they host Onaga.