Friday night in Leon, Iowa, usually belongs to the Central Decatur Cardinals. But this past September, the stadium lights flickered on for a different kind of party. It was a neutral-site collision between two 8-player powerhouses that technically shouldn't have even been playing each other.
The Fremont-Mills vs WACO 8-player matchup wasn't a long-scheduled rivalry. Honestly, it was a marriage of convenience born out of the chaos that is small-town Iowa high school football schedules. WACO was staring at a blank Friday because their scheduled opponent, Lone Tree, had to forfeit their entire season due to low numbers. Fremont-Mills had a bye.
Instead of sitting at home, these two programs decided to drive hours across the state to meet in the middle.
The Game That Almost Wasn't
High school football is different when you only have eight guys on the field. The game is faster. The scores are higher. And when a team on your schedule folds, you don't just lose a game—you lose a massive chunk of your season. For the WACO Warriors, losing that Lone Tree game meant they were only looking at seven games total.
Coach Chad Edeker wasn't having it.
"You only get eight games," he told reporters. "When you lose a game and you only get seven instead of eight, that’s really, really tough on your kids."
So, they looked west. Fremont-Mills, the Knights from Tabor, were sitting at 3-0 and looking for a challenge. They found one in the Warriors, who were also 3-0 at the time. Central Decatur offered up their turf in Leon as the halfway point—a two-hour drive for both squads rather than a cross-state trek that would have taken four or five.
Fireworks and Turnovers
If you like defensive struggles, this wasn't the game for you. At least not early on.
Fremont-Mills set the tone before most fans had even finished their first box of popcorn. Sam Sanchez took the opening kickoff 77 yards to the house. Boom. 6-0 Knights.
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WACO didn't blink. Hayden Shelman, who basically lived in the end zone all night, answered with a 34-yard touchdown run. Just like that, WACO was up 7-6. The first quarter was a track meet. Sawyer Forney, the Knights' signal-caller, found JW Linkenhoker for a 43-yard strike. Then Shelman went off again for a 64-yard score.
By the time the first quarter ended, Fremont-Mills held a slim 20-13 lead. It looked like we were headed for a 70-60 shootout.
Then the wheels fell off for the Warriors.
The Second Quarter Meltdown
In 8-player football, momentum is a physical force. Between the first and second quarters, Fremont-Mills didn't just take the lead—they took the game's soul. They ripped off 36 unanswered points in about 15 minutes.
The culprit? Turnovers.
WACO coughed it up six times on the night. Four fumbles and two picks. Against a team like Fremont-Mills, that's basically a death sentence. The Knights aren't the kind of team that just settles for field goals; they turn mistakes into six points immediately.
By halftime, the score was 48-13. The second half was a formality, highlighted only by a 69-yard pick-six that put the final nail in the coffin.
Final Score: Fremont-Mills 54, WACO 13.
Breaking Down the Box Score
| Stat | Fremont-Mills | WACO |
|---|---|---|
| Total Yards | 295 | 272 |
| Passing Yards | 166 | 85 |
| Rushing Yards | 129 | 187 |
| Takeaways | 6 | 2 |
| First Downs | 13 | 13 |
Looking at those numbers, you'd think the game was close. It wasn't. WACO actually outgained the Knights on the ground. Hayden Shelman was a beast, racking up 144 rushing yards and 229 all-purpose yards.
But the air was a different story. Sawyer Forney was clinical. He finished with 173 yards and five touchdowns. He played like a guy who knew exactly where the holes in an 8-man secondary were. On the defensive side, the Knights' JW Linkenhoker was everywhere, finishing the game with 6.5 tackles, a sack, and a tackle for loss.
What This Matchup Proved About 8-Man Football
A lot of people think 8-player football is "lesser" than the 11-man game. They're wrong.
What the Fremont-Mills vs WACO 8-player matchup showed is that the level of athleticism is off the charts. When you remove three players from each side, the field opens up. If you have a kid like Sam Sanchez or Hayden Shelman, they have space to move.
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It also showed the community spirit of Iowa sports. Central Decatur had nothing to gain from hosting this game. They weren't playing. Their kids weren't on the field. But they opened the gates because they knew how much it meant for these seniors to get their eighth game in.
Why Fremont-Mills Won
It came down to physical execution and ball security. Coach Edeker admitted his guys looked "flat" even in warm-ups. Maybe it was the long bus ride, or maybe it was just one of those nights. But Fremont-Mills was crisper. They were more physical at the point of attack.
When you give a team five passing touchdowns and a pick-six, you aren't winning many games in any class.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Coaches
If you’re following these programs or coaching at this level, there are a few big takeaways from this cross-state experiment:
- Schedule Flexibility is King: Don't be afraid to hunt for games. WACO could have taken the forfeit win, but they chose to play a Top-15 opponent instead. That's how you get better for the playoffs.
- Neutral Sites Work: Using a halfway point like Leon is a great way to bridge the gap between East and West Iowa programs. It keeps the kids' legs fresh and allows for matchups we usually only see in the UNI-Dome.
- Ball Security in 8-Man: In 11-man, you can sometimes overcome a -2 turnover margin. In 8-man, a turnover is often an immediate 15-yard disadvantage because there's less help on the back end. Protect the rock at all costs.
- Keep an Eye on the Rankings: This game moved Fremont-Mills into the Top 10 and dropped WACO slightly, but both teams remained playoff contenders. High-quality non-district games like this carry weight with the selection committees.
The next time you see a gap in the schedule, look at the other side of the state map. You might just find a classic waiting to happen.