The Bulldogs struck first with a 17-yard pass from Mark Stewart to Ryan Smith in the first quarter. After an Andrew Booth extra point, the Bulldogs were on top, 7-0. Later in the first quarter, a Bulldog punt pinned the visiting Wildcats deep in their own territory. A few plays later, the Bulldogs registered a safety and led 9-0.

Wathena answered with a Colby Rohde touchdown run in the second quarter as Wildcats pulled within two at 9-7, but WHS couldn’t contain the McLouth offense.

The Bulldogs also scored touchdowns in the second, third and fourth quarters. The McLouth defense allowed one more Wathena score, a Colton Bauman four-yard run in the fourth quarter. Wathena had 126 yards of total offense, 73 of which was in rushing yardage.

“I’m encouraged by it,” MHS coach Harry Hester said of McLouth’s effort Friday. “We’ve got to get better. Our line needs to do a better job. Receivers need to be better on their fakes.”

Hester said that defensively the team played better, although it still was giving up some third-down conversions and committing too many penalties.

“Overall our defensive play has improved,” Hester said.

Stewart passed for two touchdowns and ran in another against Wathena. In addition to his first-quarter touchdown pass to Smith, Stewart also ran 32 yards for a touchdown in the second and threw another touchdown pass to Smith, a 15-yard pass in the fourth. Trevor Keling scored in the third on a three-yard touchdown run.

Most of McLouth’s 456 yards were generated on the ground, as MHS had 364 rushing yards.

Wathena had control of the ball for 36 minutes, compared to McLouth’s 12, but the Bulldogs had 18 first downs compared to Wathena’s seven.

Although Wathena had substantially fewer yards than MHS, the Wildcats were 3-for-4 on fourth-down conversions, compared to McLouth at 1-for-4.

“I think they improved,” Hester said about his team. “I don’t think the score really showed how much we improved, which is kind of a disappointment. But I think we’ve gotten better on both sides of the ball and on special teams play.”

After dropping its first game of the season to Troy, McLouth has rattled off two straight wins and will play Valley Falls on Friday. The Dragons are 0-3 and have been outscored 85-0 in those games.

The game, which is homecoming for McLouth, will begin at 7 p.m.

Injury report

MHS running back Skyler Terry has returned from a hand injury he sustained against Troy. Although Terry did not play against Wathena, he is available to play.

“He could play if we needed him too, so we’re excited to have him back in the lineup,” Hester said.

McLouth 29, Wathena 13

Score by quarters

Wathena 0 7 0 6 — 13
McLouth 9 6 7 7 — 29

Individual scoring
M — Smith 17 pass from Stewart (Booth kick)
M– Team safety
W — Rohde 10 run (Rohde kick)
M — Stewart 32 run (kick failed)
M — Keling 3 run (Booth kick)
M — Stewart 15 pass to Smith (Booth kick)
W — Bauman 4 run (Rohde kick)