Beating a team that they haven’t beaten since George W. Bush was in the middle of his 2nd term, starting off with a 6-1 record, and having a quarterback that plays just as good of defense as offense, are all characteristics of the Westminster Varsity Football team.

The Football team this year started off the season as 6-1which included a game-winning field goal by David Williams, sophomore, to give Westminster their first win over Priory since 2006.

While Williams is a great kicker, Brett Bond, senior, has also produced great numbers on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Bond has five touchdowns, thrown for over 530 yards, and is one of the top quarterbacks in Missouri. Bond also leads all of Missouri in defensive interceptions with six.

The Wildcats have sustained injuries to key players, and has surprised the team.

“The biggest surprise is probably the significant injuries that we have sustained so far this year.  There are always injuries to deal with in sports but we have had more than usual this year and they have been to key players.  Obviously, we weren’t expecting this to happen and have had to find a way to work through the adversity,” said Corey Snyder, head coach.

In order to compensate for the loss of players, the team has had people to step up and take control of their newly found position.

“Since we returned a lot of players from last year’s team, we had a good idea of how the pieces were going to fit for this year.  Connor Hafenrichter and Sam Snapp are a couple of guys that have stepped up for periods of time either due to injury to a starter or a need on the team” said Snyder.

Although Hafenrichter, sophomore, has been playing very well, he has gotten injured as well.

“When Blake Weaver got hurt earlier in the season, Connor took his place, and has done really well. Currently, Blake is healthy and able to play, but Connor is hurt. So now they have switched back to Blake starting” said Caleb Krumseig, senior.

The football team is looking to beat their overall 8-3 record last year, and are confident that they can and will do so.

“We need to replace some key guys that are injured and figure out how our personnel can be utilized to make us as competitive as possible. We also need to focus on doing the little things right day in and day out.  These are the things that make a difference in competitive games against evenly matched teams” said Snyder.