Leavenworth, Kan. — The Leavenworth Pioneers were hungry for a win coming into Friday’s homecoming contest against Wyandotte. The blue and white made that known early, scoring twice in the first quarter en route to a 26-6 victory in the game that also marked the start of district play.

 

The win improves Leavenworth to 1-6 on the season and breaks a losing streak that stretched back to 2008.

 

“It feels awesome,” head coach Kevin Kopecky said of the win. “I’m very happy for our coaching staff and for our kids. These guys have worked really  hard.”

 

“We’ve been waiting for this,” senior team captain Devyn McPhaull said. “We’ve been playing hard and finally it came and we are so excited.”

 

Leavenworth scored on their first offensive drive of the game, quarterback Judson Cole keeping the ball for a one-yard touchdown run to get the Pioneers on the board at the 6:39 mark in the first quarter.

 

Back-to-back sacks by Anthony Truelove helped Leavenworth force a quick punt by Wyandotte, and Jason Randall ran the ball in 43 yards on second down to make it 12-0 with just under two minutes left in the first.

 

Leavenworth’s couldn’t get it back in the end zone for the rest of the half, but they kept the Bulldogs out as well. It wasn’t until the final play of the third quarter that the Pioneers put up another score. Alec Zeck pulled in a 30-yard pass from Cole as time expired in the third and Cole hit Cline Baker on the two-point conversion to send the blue and white into the final quarter with a 20-0 advantage.

 

Although Wyandotte was able to get on the board with nine minutes to play, on a 9-yard pass play, that was all the Pioneer defense would allow in the game.