Football Game Preview: Winfield Vikings vs. Circle Thunderbirds

The Winfield Vikings will head out on the road to face off against the Circle Thunderbirds at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Winfield comes in still looking for their first win of the season.

Winfield is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They lost to McPherson at home by a 46-27 margin on Friday. The Vikings were down 40-20 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.

Winfield's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Evan Hutto, who picked up 275 receiving yards and one TD, and Kellen Gibson, who threw for 345 yards and a pair of touchdowns while picking up 14.4 yards per attempt. Hutto's longest reception was for an incredible 73 yards. Dane Chattam also deserves some recognition as he punched in his first rushing touchdown of the season.

Meanwhile, Circle played a tough game on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They came up short against Buhler, falling 42-20. The Thunderbirds have struggled against the Crusaders recently, as the game was their third consecutive lost matchup.

Despite the loss, Circle saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Cole Wilbur rushed for 79 yards and one score on only ten carries.

Winfield's defeat dropped their record down to 0-4. As for Circle, their loss dropped their record down to 1-3.

Winfield strolled past Circle in their previous meeting back in November of 2024 by a score of 35-20. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was the Thunderbirds' Westin Rose, who rushed for 92 yards and one touchdown, and also caught one TD. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for the Vikings to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.