Football Game Preview: Wausa/Osmond vs. Hartington-Newcastle Wildcats

Wausa/Osmond will head out to face off against the Hartington-Newcastle Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Wausa/Osmond is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt wants to keep things rolling.

Wausa/Osmond is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nebraska's top teams: Bloomfield, who was ranked 22nd at the time (Wausa/Osmond was ranked 12th). Wausa/Osmond enjoyed a cozy 36-22 victory over Bloomfield on Friday. Wausa/Osmond's win was all the more impressive since Bloomfield was averaging only 10.8 points allowed on the season.

Mac Carlson continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 119 yards and one TD, while also throwing for 97 yards and three touchdowns. Those three passing touchdowns gave him a new career-high. Lincoln Thorell also helped with two scores in total.

Meanwhile, Hartington-Newcastle played a tough matchup on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They came up short against Crofton, falling 52-30. The Wildcats haven't had much luck with the Warriors recently, as the team has come up short the last four times they've met.

Wausa/Osmond will need to focus on slowing down Austin Sudbeck, one of several Hartington-Newcastle players who made an impact when they last played. He rushed for 90 yards and one TD, and also threw for 229 yards and one touchdown while picking up 10.9 yards per attempt. Mason Krause was another key player, picking up 135 receiving yards and one score.

Wausa/Osmond's victory bumped their record up to 5-0. As for Hartington-Newcastle, their defeat was their first of the season and makes their record 4-1.

Friday's game might be decided on the ground. Wausa/Osmond has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 242.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Hartington-Newcastle struggles in that department as they've been averaging 269.8 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's contest turns into a tough fight on the ground.

Wausa/Osmond took a serious blow against Hartington-Newcastle when the teams last played back in October of 2024, falling 56-14. Thankfully for Wausa/Osmond, Cole Heimes (who rushed for 107 yards and four touchdowns on only 11 carries, and also threw for 103 yards and a pair of TDs while completing 71.4% of his passes) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.