OSHKOSH – Friday night lights ― er, make that Thursday night lights ― are officially back, and Lourdes Academy wasted little time making a statement with its 56-6 victory over Living Word Lutheran at Titan Stadium on opening night of the 2024 high school football season.
Leading the way with a notable amount of intensity from the get-go was junior defensive lineman Jacob Bogardus, clearly joyful just to be back on the field, keeping the Knights alert and fired up throughout the first half of action.
After a three-and-out on defense, Lourdes sophomore running back Brady Bauer fumbled, prematurely ending the first drive of the year for the Knights. His shot at redemption came right before halftime with a pick-six to give Lourdes a 35-point advantage.
The true standout, however, was junior running back Brady Ridenour, who ran with authority, bulldozing would-be tacklers. He got Lourdes on the board first, with a 35-yard touchdown carry up the middle.
"I felt like I ran hard," Ridenour said. "There's no better feeling in sports than hitting someone in football and running through them. The offense played really well as a whole, tonight, and the line blocked great."
The solid performances from both Ridenour and Bauer left an overall positive impression on Lourdes coach Kevin Wopat.
"For both Bradys, it was a confidence-building night for them," Wopat said. "I think doing it under the lights in a game situation always helps. They both ran the ball effectively last week in our scrimmage, but I really believe Brady Ridenour has grown with Brady Bauer showing up. It's forced him to become a little bit more an aggressive kid."
The Knights' defense only allowed a handful of big plays and had a few other opportunities to take the ball away with senior defensive back Braden Studinski just a step away from his own interception return for a touchdown.
In addition to Bauer and Ridenour, there was the explosive and versatile Mat Yaggie, who threatened to score with each touch he received. After LWL’s lone touchdown, he returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown and ran one in from six yards out to open the second half scoring.
"It feels really good when you score, and you want to keep helping out your team as much as you can, so it just feels good to be able to do what I can do and really show that out there,” Yaggie said. “This was a nice way to set the tone for the season."
Ridenour tacked on two more touchdowns, senior quarterback Wade Lindahl tossed a touchdown pass to fellow senior Donovan Hemminghaus, and sophomore running back Nolan Gibson had the final rushing touchdown to cap the scoring.
Although the Knights cruised to their first win, ahead lies a challenging contest against Reedsville ― a team that went 12-1 and advanced to Level 4 of the WIAA playoffs a year ago.
"A lot harder game, next week, so we've just got to carry this (momentum), come out hard, keep doing what we're doing and keep going," Ridenour said. "We'll be fine."
Check back this weekend in our weekly roundup for official stats!
To contact Lance LeQue, email him at LLeQue@gannett.com , or follow him on Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter, @LanceLeQue .
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This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Lourdes Academy football runs wild over Living Word Lutheran to claim first victory of the new season
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