November 2, 2006 at 7:56 a.m.
Wildcat football knocks out supposed "Super-Power" Panthers
Wildcat football knocks out supposed "Super-Power" Panthers
Leading 3-0 with just over two minutes left in the first quarter, a Wildcat fumble gave the Panthers the ball on the Chisago Lakes 49. The Panthers gained three yards on the next play and the Wildcats were called for a 15-yard facemask penalty, putting the ball at the Wildcat 32.
The Panthers ground out a pair of first downs to give them first and goal at the 10. On second and goal, senior wide receiver Aaron Carter ran the ball to the 3. The defense stopped fullback Chris Norgaard just short of the goal line on third down. The Panthers decided to go for it, and the Wildcats dug in.
SLP quarterback Erik Stenstrom took the snap, kept the ball himself and pushed toward the goal line. But LT Wright made the initial hit and the rest of the Wildcat defense swarmed all over Stenstrom, denying him the end zone. The Wildcat defense had come up with the biggest stand of the season.
The Wildcats got on the board on the game’s opening drive. An 18-yard kickoff return by John Lien put the ball at the Wildcat 24. On second and seven, quarterback Brian Jennissen called his own number on an option right. He gained 23 yards before a shoestring tackle prevented a much bigger gain. On the next play, Jennissen hit halfback Brandon Mueller with a pass in the left flat, and Mueller ran 30 yards to the Panther 20. But the drive stalled there.
With chants of “Swan-EE, Swan-EE” coming from the Wildcat faithful, Christian Swanberg hit his second field goal of the season. The 32 yarder gave the Wildcats an early 3-0 lead.
The Panthers managed a first down on their opening drive, but the Wildcats forced them to punt on fourth and three from their own 47. The punt got a nice roll for the Panthers, and it looked like the Wildcats would start at their own 12. But the Wildcats were called for too many men on the field, and the 15 yard penalty gave the Panthers a first down on the Wildcat 38.
Three plays later, facing fourth and 2, the Panthers decided to go for it. Stenstrom took the ball up the middle, but he was stopped by defensive lineman Dain Kaiser for the Wildcats’ first big fourth down stop of the game. After the fumble, penalty and goal line stand mentioned above, the Wildcats started to move the ball out of the shadow of their own goal line. But, on third and nine from the 15, the Wildcats were called for intentional grounding and were forced to punt from their own four yard line. Under heavy pressure, Swanberg got off a punt that rolled dead at the Wildcat 35.
The Panthers took advantage of the short field. They faced fourth and six at the Wildcat 19, took a timeout and decided to go for it. Stenstrom kept the ball, broke through the middle and ran into the end zone for a touchdown to give the Panthers a 7-3 lead with 2:31 remaining in the half.
On the ensuing kickoff, Mueller followed the wedge up the middle, and burst through, spinning and shedding multiple would-be tacklers on his way to a 49 yard kickoff return that gave the Wildcats the ball at the Panther 41. Two runs by fullback Jake Spehar gave the Wildcats a first down at the Panther 29. The Wildcats went for it on fourth and three from the 22. Spehar was stopped just shy of the first down marker, ending the Wildcats bid for the go-ahead touchdown. The half ended with the Panthers leading 7-3.
The Wildcats held firm against the Panthers on the opening drive of the second half, and the Panthers faced fourth and one from their own 42. A bad snap on a fake punt rolled back to the 29 yard line, where the Wildcats pounced on it to give themselves a short field to work with. Five plays later, Jennissen faked a hand off, slid right and strolled into the end zone. Swanberg’s extra point made it a 10-7 Wildcat lead with eight minutes left in the third quarter.
The Panthers then went on a 12 play drive that included a fourth down conversion. The drive ate up the rest of the third quarter. The Panthers faced fourth and one from the Wildcat 13. Stenstrom again kept the ball and plowed up the middle. A couple of seconds later, Kaiser emerged from the pile with the ball and started upfield. He paused at the 50, and then ran all the way into the end zone. But he was called back.
“That was a crazy play” said Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss. “It was fourth and short. There was a huge pile and, all of a sudden, Kaiser emerges, running in the other direction. No one heard a whistle and we were never given an explanation about why the ball was brought back or whether there had even been a fumble. What we did know is that they gave us the ball with a first down from our own nine yard line.” Either way, it was the Wildcat defense’s third big fourth down stop deep in their own territory.
Fueled by the legs of Jennissen and Mueller, the Wildcats then went on a 14 play, 91 yard drive that included thirteen running plays and ate up a huge chunk of the fourth quarter. On second and six from their own 33, Mueller took a pitch, stopped and threw back across the field to Jennissen. Mueller’s pass led Jennissen perfectly. Jennissen made some nice moves, found some daylight and ran 41 yards down to the Panther 26 yard line. Eight plays later, Spehar took the ball over from the one to give the Wildcats a 17-7 lead.
The stingy Wildcat defense kept the Panthers off the board for the rest of the game, giving the Wildcats a 17-7 victory over the Spring Lake Park in the section semifinals.
“This was one of those nights when the defense had the spotlight,” said Weiss. “They came up huge, especially on the goal line stand in the first quarter. There’s something about a goal line stand that gives a defensive team confidence.
“Kaiser had a big game for us. He’s filled in nicely for as a starter since Soderlund got hurt. LT Wright had a big game for us and was one of the first guys to make the hit on the goal line stand. Adam Gemuenden and Bob LeVasseur played well at linebacker, and defensive back Eric Reed came up with some big plays. Overall, we turned in a great defensive effort against a team that’s put up a lot of points this season,” the coach continued.
“The pass to Brian was a specialty play – teams don’t typically expect the quarterback to go out for a pass. Something like that only works once or twice a season. And they weren’t completely fooled; a guy came up on Brian, but Brian made some nice moves to get around him. Since we didn’t spend a lot of time focusing on it in practice, it’s a credit to the players that they were able to focus and properly execute it during the game.
“When we got behind at the end of the first half, we told the players we had a lot of time left, so we’re okay. We talk a lot during the season about preparing for adversity, but you’re never sure what’s going to happen. It’s a credit to the kids that they stayed pretty cool and did not panic. Having a lot of experienced senior players will do that for you,” the coach concluded.
The win earned the Wildcats a berth in the Section 4AAAA championship game this Friday, November 3 at 7 p.m. at Totino Grace. The top-seeded, number one-ranked Eagles beat Monticello 26-0 to advance to the section championship game. “We know that Totino’s a great team,” said Weiss. “They’re 10 and 0. But we’re a much better team than we were when we played them in week three. At that time, I told the players that if we want to accomplish our goals, we’re going to have to face them again. There were some little things we needed to work on, and that’s what we did. Our players have gotten better and our confidence has grown. We’re just a better football team right now. And you want to be playing your best going into the playoffs. Let’s see how it goes the second time around,” Weiss commented.
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