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In the Wildcats’ Section 4AAAA quarterfinal playoff game, quarterback Brian Jennissen scored on a 67 yard run just 46 seconds into the game. The third-seeded Wildcats led from that point as they beat the sixth-seeded St. Michael-Albertville Knights 35-13 at home Tuesday, October 24. With the win, CL advanced to the section semifinal game against Spring Lake Park.

On the Wildcats’ second play from scrimmage, Jennissen kept the ball on an option play to the right, ran through a huge hole, hit the sideline and outraced the St. Michael defense on his way to one of the quickest touchdowns in Wildcat history.

After the teams traded punts, the Knights took over at their own 23. Seven plays later, they had first and ten at the Wildcat 19. But a second down sack by Justin Helps moved the ball back to the 26, the drive stalled there, and the Wildcats took over on downs. The Wildcats then went on a 14-play scoring drive, relying mostly on the legs of halfbacks Jon Lien and Brandon Mueller. The highlight of the drive was a 19 yard run by Mueller. He broke several tackles and dragged people with him. He was actually knocked down when he ran into one of his own players.

On first and goal from the five, Lien blasted up the middle for a touchdown. The Wildcats missed the extra point and led 13-0 with 10 minutes to go in the second quarter. The teams traded punts for the rest of the half, and the Wildcats kept their 13 point lead going into halftime.

Each team scored on its first two possessions after halftime. The Knights went on a 12 play, 80 yard drive to open the second half, scoring on a 17 yard diving catch to pull to 13-7. The Wildcats answered with an 11 play drive of their own, capped off by Lien’s one yard touchdown run. Lien also ran in the two point conversion, giving the Wildcats a 21-7 lead.

The Knights came right back.

After a nice kickoff return to their own 42, they marched down the field. On the second play of the fourth quarter, they connected on a 14 yard touchdown pass. Their pass on a fake extra point attempt fell incomplete, so the Wildcats led 21-13.

The Wildcats began their next drive from their 42. On second and six from the Knight 42, Lien took a handoff to the right, got around the corner, broke tackles and sped into the end zone for an apparent Wildcat touchdown. But a holding penalty behind the play wiped out the touchdown.

The Wildcats still had first and ten on the Knight 24. On second and goal from the five, Mueller went up the middle for six points and, with 8:47 left in the game, the Wildcats once again had a two touchdown lead.

The teams traded fumbles on their next two possessions. St. Michael began a drive on its own 27 with 4:52 remaining. They moved the ball to the Wildcat 41, but a fourth down pass fell incomplete with 4:09 remaining. The Wildcats ate up the clock, and Lien’s third touchdown of the game, on a two yard run with 32 seconds remaining, put an exclamation point on the Wildcats’ 35-13 victory.

Jennissen, Lien and Mueller each gained over 100 yards as the Wildcats amassed 421 yards rushing. Lien’s three touchdowns gave him 14 for the season.

“St. Michael is a solid program, and they’re always well coached and well prepared for games,” said Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss. “They showed enough on film that we knew they’d give us a test. We didn’t think we’d be able jump out and roll over them. We didn’t really put them away ‘til late in the game.

“Brian made the right read in a base option play on his long touchdown run. We caught them in a vulnerable defense and took advantage of it,” Weiss added.

“Defensively, Adam Gemuenden and Zach Sill packed quite a punch from the linebacker spot. We had some concerns about St. Michael’s ability to run, especially with a mobile quarterback. Our front eight really gave them some problems. Once it became clear they couldn’t run the ball effectively, they went more to their passing game. They were decent at that, but after they had some success we were able to make some adjustments and close that down, too,” the coach continued.

“We only had one turnover in this game. One of the points we make week in and week out is to take care of the ball. Our fumble today prevented us from scoring, but didn’t give them an easy opportunity to score since it was in their territory,” Weiss concluded.

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