With everything going so well for the Omaha Beef in the first half against Wichita, it would have been hard to imagine how badly things would turn as the Wild rallied for a 57-47 win Monday at the Civic Auditorium.
Omaha quarterback Ben Sankey completed his first 12 passes, going 17 of 20 for 188 yards and five touchdowns in the first half before things unraveled in the third quarter.
While Sankey started to struggle, with his second interception and lost fumble, Wichita's Dixie Wooten passed for four touchdowns and rushed for four more.
"We got outplayed in the second half," Omaha coach Pat Pimmell said. "We just came out flat, committed some turnovers, and they took advantage of it."
Wooten finished 17 of 23 passing and rushed for 56 yards.
"Aw man, it was a good game," said Wooten, who admittedly is not a fast runner. "I feel like we came out with a game plan."
"I knew they were going to worry about my passing game a little bit, so I decided to do a little work on my feet tonight."
Sankey completed 1 of 9 passes in the second half and was replaced by Chad Schmigel, who was 2 of 8 for 30 yards with one touchdown. Sankey finished 18 of 29 for 193 yards and the five first-half touchdowns.
Omaha (1-2) led 34-29 at halftime but failed to score in the third quarter and trailed 43-34 heading to the fourth.
Pimmell said he wasn’t quite sure what happened in the second half, but it all came to a head at once.
"I don’t know whether it was the adjustments they made or all the dropped passes and interceptions," the coach said. "It was kind of a two-way street."
Sankey was picked off for the second time on the Beef’s first possession of the second half.
The Wild (3-1) took advantage when Wooten hit Clinton Solomon with a 17-yard scoring strike to give Wichita its first lead at 36-34.
Wooten put the game away with his third and fourth rushing touchdowns of 12 and 7 yards, respectively, to give Wichita a 57-40 lead late in the fourth quarter.
