Football bests Harrisonville, fall to Eudora
- Updated: October 16, 2026
Louisburg traveled across the Missouri-Kansas border to play the Harrisonville Wildcats on Friday night. It ended up being the first win over Harrisonville in the history of both teams.
They walked away with a 42-14 win. This is the first time these teams have met in around 100 years. It would be the Wildcats from Kansas who took advantage first.
Harrisonville started the game off with the ball but was immediately met by big tackles from safety Briggs White, then intercepted by safety Mathias Wright. Immediately after, quarterback Max Amren broke free for a 65 yard rushing touchdown. The defense stood strong once again forcing a 3 and out for Harrisonville. Max Amren threw a 48 yard touchdown to John Guetterman on third and long.
In the second, Harrisonville offense was stopped once again on a turnover on downs. Louisburg drove down the field and capped it off with a 25 yard touchdown by running back Tate McGreer. Before the end of the second half Max Amren threw a 87 yard passing touchdown to receiver Cole Heinrich and later threw another touchdown to Guetterman, this one being a 16 yarder.
Louisburg received the ball for the second half but both defenses stood strong allowing no points this quarter. Louisburg had the ball going into the 4th quarter. After big runs by Max Amren and Mathias Wright Louisburg gets into the endzone with a rushing touchdown by Bryce Thompson to extend the lead 42-0. Harrisonville gets on the board with 2 late touchdowns.
“It felt nice getting a big win against an unfamiliar opponent,” said quarterback Max Amren. “It gives us some momentum going into senior night.” Max had 4 touchdowns and 203 passing yards.
They have been dominant all season on all levels, but the next test would be against the Eudora Cardinals. Eudora is 4-1 on the year, so a great game will be necessary for the Wildcats to pull off a victory.
Louisburg played a tough Eudora team in their Frontier League match up last Friday on senior night. The Wildcats fought hard, but ultimately getting their first loss of the season, the final score being 28-26.
“We didn’t quit. There have been very few times that we’ve gotten down 21-0 and been able to battle back,” said coach Drew Harding. ”To be able to kind of ignore that momentum, ignore the scoreboard and continue to battle and put ourselves in a spot where we have a chance to win was a huge positive.”
The Eudora Cardinals began the game with a strong opening drive putting them up 7-0 in the first. Both teams played good defense for the rest of the first, closing out the first quarter of the game, ending in the Cardinals up 7-0.
The Wildcats fought against Eudora’s good run game in the second quarter, but the Cardinals were able to add two more touchdowns to their score. Louisburg got the ball back with 59 seconds left in the first half. Led by explosive pass plays, the Wildcats marched down the field and scored a touchdown on a short pass from Max Amren to Braxton Eastland with 8 seconds left in the half. Louisburg trailed 21-6.
“To be able to kind of ignore that momentum, ignore the scoreboard and continue to battle and put ourselves in a spot where we have a chance to win was a huge positive.”
The Wildcats forced a punt out of the Cardinals at the beginning of the third, setting up the beginning of a momentum shifting drive for the Cats. Louisburg established their run game with Mathias Wright and Tate McGreer making plays resulting in a rushing touchdown by Wright cutting Eudora’s lead to 21-13. The Wildcats were then able to recover an onside kick by Owen Jewett. Louisburg put together a dominant drive ending in a touchdown run by McGreer. The Cats tried to go for a 2-point conversion but did not get it, ending the third quarter 21-19.
The Cardinals were able to put together a good drive to start off the fourth capping the drive off with a big rushing touchdown putting them up 28-19 at the beginning of the last quarter. Louisburg fired back at Eudora with their strong passing attack led by Max Amren, putting together another scoring drive. Amren threw a 24 yard touchdown to Cole Heinrich, cutting the lead to two. Louisburg made an important stop on defense, but couldn’t get in the endzone, ending the game losing their first game of the season.
“The challenge was to play more physical and step up to the challenge ahead of us and for the most part we did that and improved our play in the second half.” said Harding. “On the negative side we had too many penalties, lost the turnover battle, and didn’t start the game too well.”
Louisburg travels to Ottawa this week, looking to bounce back into the win column in their Frontier League matchup.
The Wildcats’ pass game has continued to improve every week which has also opened up the run game for them through the last couple of weeks. For Ottawa it is the opposite. “They can be explosive in the run game and set themselves up to make plays in the passing game,” Harding said. “Their offense is good, their coach has been doing it for a very long time, and he is a really good playcaller. He has a way of messing with your eyes on defense and getting you out of where you should be.”
The Wildcats have been both strong on defense and offense. This season, Louisburg has scored 204 points while only allowing 101. The Wildcats look to keep building around this already good 2026 team. “With playoffs a short time away we are still looking to get better and build and play our best football come playoff time.” said Harding.
When it comes to this weeks’ emphasis in practice, Harding and the players want to “Take a workman’s, humble like attitude, we want to strive to play a complete game and continue to get better.”
-Bo Ballard
