Duan McRoberts is no stranger to the end zone. And in last Thursday’s contest with Veritas Chrisitan, he found it often.

McRoberts scored four touchdowns in the opening quarter as the Wildcats rolled to a convincing 45-0 triumph.

“I knew our line, they’ve been doing a lot of work for us and I knew they were going to give me some good looks,” McRoberts said. “I knew I was going to have a good chance of breaking off on any play.”

McRoberts explained that in the moment, he was just playing football and doing what he normally does, but after he left the field, the reality of scoring a career-high four touchdowns in one quarter sunk in.

“Thinking back, it was like dang, I just got four touchdowns in like half a quarter, but at the moment I was just running the ball,” McRoberts said.

On the defensive side, there was a lot to celebrate as well. For the first time since 2019, the team recorded their first shutout.

“Just a huge credit to them, they’re flying around and not giving anything to their offense,” Head Coach Tyler Rickard said. “Coach [Jacob] Wallace did a good job preparing those guys.”

Rickard also credited the team for their execution.

“Dayton [Humphreys] did a good job of sitting in the pocket, making throws and we were able to make some catches and show some progress in the passing game,” Rickard said.

Humphreys completed seven passes for 58 yards and had one 16-yard touchdown pass to McRoberts. The quarterback has thrown at least one touchdown pass in the past three games.

The victory lifted spirits and morale.

“I felt good that other people in the team got some reps and got to show what they could do,” McRoberts said.

Lukas Lee recorded his first career touchdown off a nine-yard run and rushed 42 yards total in three attempts. Xavier Stufflebean also scored his first career touchdown on a 31-yard run.

“They do a lot of work outside of game time and so for them to be able to get in and enjoy an opportunity to play and have success, that’s huge for the morale of each individual and as a team,” Rickard said.

Overall, McRoberts had 150 yards total after one quarter of playing. Stufflebean ran for 58 yards in three rushes. Kaleb McCory added six extra points and one 20-yard field goal. Hakeem Dowdy, Gavin McCord, Benji Rodriguez and Adrian Jones all recorded four tackles each.

The Wildcats improved to 4-2 and will play Van-Far at home on Oct. 11 for their homecoming game.

“We have a tough three game stretch here through the Eastern Missouri Conference, so it is going to be tough,” Rickard said. “I think our guys are excited for it and I think we’re progressing just like we need to.”