St. Francis tops Waldorf in Warriors' home opener

FOREST CITY, Iowa - After starting the season on the road, the Waldorf football team played in front of the home fans for the first time as they entertained St. Francis (Ill.) in the home opener for a non-conference matchup. The Warriors fell behind early and fell to the Fighting Saints, 70-14.

Waldorf had the ball first, but St. Francis held them to a 3-and-out. It took just three plays for the Fighting Saints to find the end zone. Sam Tumilty found Joey Tumilty across the middle for a 32-yard touchdown only 3:19 into the game. St. Francis added a pair of touchdown runs in the opening quarter to take a 21-0 lead. St. Francis added more points and yardage in the second quarter scoring four more touchdowns. The Fighting Saints scored touchdowns on all seven first half possessions to take a 49-0 lead into halftime.

Waldorf got on the scoreboard in the third quarter. Keagan Streeter forced a fumble that Waldorf recovered deep in St. Francis territory. On a 4th-and-9, Chris Walter completed a 16-yard pass to ZyRon Belcher for a first down. On 4th-and-goal from the 4-yard line, Walter lofted a pass to left corner of the end zone that was caught by Justice Johnson for the touchdown.

The Warriors got in the end zone on their next possession too. A 12-play, 60-yard drive culminated with a Rocky Ketchum touchdown.

Ketchum rushed for 79 yards on 19 carries. Johnson caught four passes for 30 yards. Jakim Brock and Jeremiah Smith led Waldorf with six tackles.

Waldorf (0-2) returns to GPAC play next Saturday for a road game at Doane.