The Cuba and Steelville Wildcats’ football team used a potent rushing attack and a swarming defense Oct. 16 to spoil homecoming for the Bayless Bronchos in a 21-0 victory on a cold and rainy night in St. Louis.

The Wildcats got on the board with a six-yard rushing touchdown from senior running back Ethan Noltkamper with 3:27 left in the first quarter and never looked back.

Steelville sophomore running back Ripken Halbert scored the first Cardinal touchdown of the season in the second quarter on a nifty cutback run to make it a 14-0 game heading into halftime.

Noltkamper crossed the goal line for a second time halfway through the third quarter on a 24 yard scamper to give the Wildcats a 21-0 advantage. Junior Cole Kelemen, who also started on Cuba’s offensive and defensive line, was a perfect 3-for-3 on extra points as the team’s kicker.

Cuba finished with 356 rushing yards as a team and received 223 of those yards on a herculean effort from Noltkamper. Noltkamper’s 223 yards were more than double the 106 total yards of Bayless’ entire team, combined. 

While the Wildcats’ offense provided the advantage on the scoreboard, the team’s tenacious defense made sure its lead wouldn’t be jeopardized. Cuba forced three fumbles, made an interception and had eight tackles for loss. Wildcat linebackers Damion Ferguson and Nicholas Gipson repeatedly feasted in the backfield, defensive tackle Max Harmon was a ball magnet on the lost fumbles and Jesse Shireman made a leaping interception in the defensive secondary. 

Ferguson finished with eight tackles, four tackles for loss and a forced fumble as Cuba’s driving force on defense. Gipson made seven tackles, three tackles for loss and recovered a fumble. Harmon had three tackles and recovered two fumbles. Shireman recorded his first interception of the season, broke up another pass attempt and made three tackles.

Noltkamper and Will Bailey each had seven tackles. Carter Medows made six tackles and broke up a pass attempt, Luke Whittaker had two tackles and a tackle for loss, Kaden Brooks made three tackles and Seth Adderly broke up a pass and made a tackle. 

Cuba was able to hold Bayless scoreless, despite the Bronchos having the ball near the goal line multiple times. The shutout was the second on the season for the Wildcats’ defense following its 44-0 homecoming win over Pleasant Hope. Cuba didn’t hold an opponent scoreless last season and the program’s last shutout came on Oct. 30, 2024 in a 39-0 win over Linn.

Cuba head coach Kaleb Cason was quick to credit his team’s defense when asked what was the key to the Wildcats’ win over Bayless.

“I am so proud of our defense. They have just gotten better every week this year,” Cason said. “We’ve just continued to grow and grow and grow, and to get another shutout against a team that’s pretty explosive, that just shows their discipline, their tenacity. Bayless had first and goal three times, and we held them out all three times. Our guys wanted it. They wanted it really bad.”

Cason added that his team came into the locker room at halftime vocalizing their desire to pitch a shutout.

“At halftime, they were talking about wanting to get another shutout, and I told them that shutouts are hard to do,” he said. “There’s going to be tough situations, and you’re not going to give up points, you can’t give up. It’s all 11 (players) every play, and if you want that shutout, no matter what happens, you have got to continue to fight, and that’s exactly what they did. I think that was really their motivation tonight.”

Halbert finished with 41 rushing yards and a touchdown on seven carries, including three runs for at least 10 yards. Carter Medows took 13 carries for 52 yards, Gipson had 27 rushing yards on two attempts and Aiden Greenwalt ran for 12 yards on two carries.

Cuba is now 4-4 on the season heading into its Oct. 23 senior day and regular season finale against a 3-5 Perryville team. With the victory over Bayless and losses from Buffalo and Strafford, the Wildcats jumped into second place out of seven teams in the Class 3 District 5 standings. Mountain Grove is in first place and Strafford resides in third place. Senior day festivities are scheduled to take place at 6:15 p.m. on Friday prior to the 7 p.m. kickoff.