Football Recap: Kaiden Thomas Leads Evansville Reitz's Defense on Friday

Evansville Reitz won the last time they faced Evansville Mater Dei and Amyr Wilford did his part to make sure it happened again. The Panthers took down the Wildcats 21-7 on Friday with plenty of help from Wilford, who rushed for 171 yards and one score while picking up 7.1 yards per carry. His longest rush was for an incredible 78 yards.

Will Friday

Sacks

08/22/25 @ Evansville Harrison	1
08/29/25 vs Vincennes Lincoln	1
09/12/25 vs Evansville North	1
10/17/25 vs Evansville Mater Dei	2

One reason for the win was Evansville Reitz's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for eight sacks. Kaiden Thomas led the group effort, picking up three of those sacks all by himself. The game marked Will Friday's first with multiple sacks this season. Another thorn in Evansville Mater Dei's side was Azhari Jackson, who picked up a sack and made five total tackles in addition to snagging an interception which he returned for a touchdown.

The victory made it two in a row for Evansville Reitz and bumps their season record up to 6-3. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 39.5 points over those games. As for Evansville Mater Dei, they now have a losing record of 4-5.

Evansville Reitz and Evansville Mater Dei are set to take part in some playoff action in their next matches. The Panthers will challenge Evansville Central at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Evansville Reitz is facing the Bears at the right time seeing as the Bears are stuck on a seven-game losing streak. As for Evansville Mater Dei, they will face off against Princeton at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The Wildcats will be up against the Tigers' rather soft defense (which has allowed 34.5 points per game), so fans could be in store for a big offensive performance.