The West Central Heat 8-man football team lost its first game in nearly two years last Friday night on the road in Flanagan against Flanagan/Cornell/Woodland. After running the table last year, going (13-0) and claiming a state championship, the last time a Heat football squad walked off the field with a loss was November 13, 2021 in the state semifinals against Polo. West Central fell behind FCW 28-14 at halftime last Friday night before eventually losing the game 35-20. The Heat was working with several new starters after graduating an uber-talented senior class led by all-state running back Kaiden Droste. Droste is now enrolled at Illinois Wesleyan University and is listed as a wide receiver on the Titan’s roster. Heat football head coach Jason Kirby knew there would be some growing pains with a new group of players that are expected to play starting roles now instead of being in the supporting cast.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Heat in week 2 as they hit the road on Friday night to take on (1-0) Ridgewood. The Spartans are head coached by a long-time friend of Kirby, Pat Elder. The Heat beat the Spartans 66-34 in week 3 last season. That loss turned out to be the only regular season loss for Ridgewood, as they made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the postseason playoff. The Spartans opened their 2023 campaign with a 44-0 win over Pawnee/Lincolnwood in Pawnee last Friday. Ridgewood scored all their points in the first half. For the entire interview with Kirby, go to the sports podcast section of our website radiomonmouth.com.
