Photo Courtesy of Reel Smart Highlights Jeffery Mills
The WACO Warriors were eliminated from the first round of the 8-man football playoffs Friday at No. 6 Edgewood-Colesburg 58-7. The Vikings sprinted out of the gates to a 24-0 lead after the first and 38-0 advantage at half, enacting the running clock. Ed-Co stretched the lead to 52-0 before WACO got on the board with a 44-yard touchdown run from Hayden Shelman to make it 52-7 going to the fourth. The Vikings found the endzone once in the final frame. On Saturday’s KCII Radio Coaches Corner, Warrior head coach Chad Edeker talked about what decided the game and the body of work for the 2025 season. “As good as we thought their D-line looked on film, they were even better in person. Their quarterback, Steger, was a lot more physical in person. He does a nice job of cutting and is a very north-south runner. They also threw the ball really well. Their offensive line didn’t give up any pressures. It sort of what you expect when you face a number one seed that’s undefeated. We moved the ball right down the field, it’s just that they always made plays. When we thought we were going to get in the endzone, they would step up and make a play. Hayden (Shelman) did a really nice job, he’s not a real big kid, neither is Niles (Reichenbach) our two running backs. When you go against a physical team, it’s nice to be able to supplement their quickness and agility with someone who is just going to put his head down and run straight forward. Conner Sizemore did that for us with Trey Edeker out with an injury. The front line Adam (Stafford), Nick (West), Sam (Meyer), Levi (Brown) did a nice job of running our wedge play. The season started really hot. We got our three wins. I think our turning point was week 5 at Belle Plaine. We had a chance to win it and didn’t quite get it done. If we win that game I think our season turns. I think we get EV (English Valleys) next week and I think we have more success. The kids worked hard, they were willing to learn, it’s just sometimes that seasons don’t go like you want them to.”
Ed-Co won total yards 473-221 including 266-46 through the air. Rush yards were more even at 207-175 Vikings. The Ed-Co defense had the lone takeaway. Jax Steger led the way for the Vikings with 442 all-purpose yards, 265 throwing and 177 rushing and seven total touchdowns. Top Warriors included Hayden Shelman with 159 all-purpose yards, 122 on the ground with a score. Raefe Davison caught two passes for 45 yards. Niles Reichenbach had four tackles to lead the defense. Ed-Co stays unbeaten at 9-0 and advances to the second round of the playoffs this week where they host Turkey Valley, Jackson Junction. WACO finishes the year at 3-6 and says goodbye to 13 seniors including Raefe Davison, Nick West, Trey Edeker, Carsten Wilson, Tyler Rogers, Kellen Shelman, Niles Reichenbach, Harley Larimore, Joseph Tousignant, Levi Bachman, Eli Cavin, Nic Pacha, and Adam Stafford.