Season 2024 began Friday night in Wayne America for Blue Devil football.
From Bob Cunningham Field on the campus of Wayne State College, WHS played host to Omaha Roncalli Catholic.
A strong third quarter allowed Roncalli Catholic to pull away during a 31-12 road victory over Wayne High to start their season at 1-0. The Blue Devils fell to 0-1.
Scoring began as time expired in the first quarter thanks to a one-yard rushing touchdown by junior Blake Wragge to lead 7-0. The Crimson Pride added a second one-yard rushing touchdown from senior Lucas Post with 2:49 remaining in the second quarter.
The Blue Devils followed with a 36-yard passing touchdown from senior Kaden Keller to senior Calvin Ankeny with 1:21 left in the first half. The PAT was blocked as Wayne trailed 14-6.
Roncalli Catholic scored once more as time expired in the second quarter thanks to a 30-yard field goal from sophomore Logan Ferron to lead 17-6 at half.
The Crimson Pride then extended their lead in the third quarter thanks to an 11-yard passing touchdown by sophomore Brady McGill to junior Cade Shafer (7:53 remaining) and a three-yard rush by junior James Bohnenkamp (3:52) left). Roncalli Catholic led 31-6 entering the fourth.
The lone points in the fourth came from a one-yard passing touchdown by Keller to junior Taven Ocampo with 11:34 left in the game. Wayne failed to convert the two-point score.
Final favored Roncalli Catholic winning 31-12.
Wayne High ran 56 total plays for 218 total yards (240 passing/-22 rushing) while Roncalli Catholic finished with 338 yards on 83 plays (172 passing/166 rushing).
The Blue Devils were 2-10 on third down and 3-3 on fourth down as the Crimson Pride went 9-16 on third down and 3-4 on fourth down.
WHS lost four fumbles (two on punt return) as both teams had two interceptions.
Keller finished 18-33 for 289 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. The top Blue Devil rushers was senior Will Leseberg with three carries for 10 yards to go along with two catches for 30 yards.
Top receivers were junior Parker Patefield with four catches for 70 yards as senior Alex Rodriguez hauled in four catches for 54 yards. Senior Brayden Rajaee-Hallgren had one reception for 54 yards and Ankeny tallied in two catches for 39 yards.
Defensively, Ankeny recorded eight tackles (seven solo) with one sack and one tackle for loss to lead the Wayne defense. Junior Brodey Munter had seven solo tackles and an interception as Leseberg finished with seven tackles (six solo) and an interception. Sophomore Maddox Ziska also had two tackles for loss.
The Wayne High football team will next travel to Hartington and visit Cedar Catholic on Friday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.
