Gators survive in sloppy conditions

Published 3:08 pm Thursday, October 1, 2026

As the rain continued to make a slushy mess on the football field, conditions were less than ideal for Friday night’s football game in Pender.

Still, Wisner-Pilger found a way to survive in a muddy battle with a 14-12 win over host Pender on September 25.

“Conditions were not great. We played a very solid and physical team, and yet again, these young men just keep finding ways to win.

Statistically, this was not a great game for us, our offense sputtered and had some success early, but our defense played well all night,” Gator head coach A.J. Burki said.

Wisner-Pilger did all of its scoring in the 2nd quarter. Austin Cleveland scored on a 25-yard TD pass from Jaxon Knoell. Knoell also scored on a 14-yard run.

“We knew going into the game, the first half was going to be big, and we felt that if you could get up early that would be the key as the field and playing conditions would only get worse for both teams,” Burki said.

The Gators got a late-game interception to help seal the win, but there were some tense moments with a potential fumble. However, the call ruled in favor of the Gators as W-P maintained possession.

“These young men play with tremendous heart and have bought into the idea of never giving up and never out of the game,” Burki said.

“They play with grit and determination, and each week we are constantly working to fine tune our game and become a better team. When you put those two concepts together good things happen.”

With the win, W-P remains unbeaten at 5-0. Up next, the Gators will host Ponca (3-2) today (October 2).