Football Recap: Dynamic Duo of Porter Mathews and Braxen Eichelberger Lead O'neill to Victory

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Previous Games

09/26/25 - Home	47-21 W
09/27/24 - Away	41-21 W
10/20/23 - Away	41-14 W
10/20/22 - Home	2-35 L
10/15/21 - Away	14-49 L
+ 5 more games

O'Neill had won three straight at home, but on Friday they bumped up to 5-0 to make it four. Everything went their way against the Wayne Blue Devils as they made off with a 47-21 victory. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 40-0.

This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Braxen Eichelberger and Porter Mathews. Eichelberger gained 201 total yards and two touchdowns while Mathews rushed for 125 yards and a pair of scores. Eichelberger showed off some serious burst, cutting through the defense on one rush that went for 61 yards. Turner Heiss was another key player, rushing for 50 yards and one TD.

O'Neill was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 391 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 215 rushing yards in six consecutive matchups dating back to last season.

As for Wayne, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 1-4. While losing is never fun, they can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska football rankings (they are ranked 85th, while O'Neill is ranked 28th).

Despite the defeat, Wayne saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Easton Endicott threw for 207 yards and three touchdowns. The Blue Devils also got help from Jace Jorgensen, who showed off his sure hands for 82 receiving yards.

O'Neill didn't take long to hit the field again: they've already played their next game, a 33-21 win against Pierce on the 3rd. As for Wayne, they have also already played their next contest, a 55-7 loss against Lakeview on the 3rd.