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Leading 21-14 late in the game, the Wildcats (4-3) were forced to punt from the Fridley 45 yard line. Wildcat punter Brandon Dawson lofted a high kick that the Wildcats downed at the 2. Fridley moved the ball downfield, but 98 yards was a tall task as the Wildcat defense kept everything in front of them. On fourth and 6 from their own 41, the Tigers' final pass fell incomplete with 30 seconds to go, sealing the Wildcats' 21-14 victory. The game was played Friday, October 10 at Fridley.

The Tigers (3-4) had returned the game's opening kickoff to midfield. When the ball got to the Wildcat red zone, the Wildcat defense stiffened. On fourth and seven from the 15, three Wildcat defenders chased Tiger quarterback Ericson Saye. He ended up intentionally grounding the ball as they pulled him down for the sack. The Wildcats took over at their own 33 and managed one first down. They went for it on fourth and seven from the Fridley 42, but were held to a two yard gain.

The Tigers moved the ball from their own 40 to the Wildcat 44. On first down, Wildcat defensive lineman Jake Elzy broke through the line so quickly it seemed he started in the Fridley backfield. Elzy engulfed the runner for a two yard loss. After two one yard gains, the Tigers lined up to punt at the beginning of the second quarter. The ball was snapped and Brandon Dawson broke through the line, forcing the punter to run to his right. Dawson grabbed the punter, who managed to get his foot on the ball just as he was going down. The punt ended up going out of bounds for a two yard loss.

Starting on their own 46, the Wildcats ran for 5 yards on first down, and a personal foul penalty on the Tigers gave the Wildcats a first down on the Tiger 34. On second down from the 30, quarterback Andy Willhite ran toward the right end with Joey Reed trailing. Just as Willhite was about to be tackled, he pitched it to Reed. Reed tiptoed down the sideline and dove past the final Tiger defender into the end zone. Dominic Novak's extra point made the Wildcat lead 7-0.

Fridley moved the ball downfield quickly on their next possession, gaining most of their yardage on three big plays. The first two plays of the drive, an 18 yard pass and a 17 yard run, gave them first down on the Wildcat 30. Facing fourth and 15 from the 35, Saye rolled right and fired. The Tiger receiver managed to keep his feet in bounds as he leaned over the sideline to catch the ball at the 8. "There's no way we could have defensed that play," said Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss. "The quarterback threw it in a place that was impossible to defend, and the receiver really laid himself out to catch the ball and keep his feet in bounds. That was a pretty impressive throw and catch. It could have been the play of the week on Prep Sports Extra."

On fourth down from the 2, Saye kept the ball and went untouched up the middle into the end zone, tying the score at 7-7.

Jordan Hickox returned the kickoff to the Wildcat 33 yard line. On first down, Zach Butcher ran for seven yards. Willhite gained seven on the next play. As he was being tackled, it looked like his knee hit the ground. The ball popped loose and the Tigers jumped on it. After a couple of minutes of discussion, the referees ruled it a fumble. "At the time, it didn't look like a fumble," said Weiss. "But when we went back to look at it later on film, we couldn't tell if it was a fumble or not." Weiss didn't protest the fumble call vociferously, anyway. He merely exhorted his defense to play hard. Two plays later, the Tiger running back fumbled. Wildcat Mark Sandgren pounced on it to give the Wildcats a first down at their own 42 yard line with just under six minutes remaining in the first half.

The Wildcats went on a quick drive. Eric Sargeant ran for 8 yards. Willhite hit Jordan Hickox on a curl in pattern for 18 yards. Runs by Sargeant and Butcher gave the Wildcats another first down. On first down from the 21, Willhite kept the ball, cut up the middle and raced toward the end zone. He used some nice moves avoiding potential tacklers at the five yard line. While they were grabbing at air, Willhite strolled into the end zone. Novak's extra point put the Wildcats up 14-7 at the half.

The Wildcats kept up the offensive pressure to start the third quarter. Willhite took the opening kickoff in full stride at the 17 and returned it to the Wildcat 47. On second and seven from the 50, Reed ran right for 13 yards. On second and 14 from the Fridley 41, Willhite broke loose from a potential sack, reversed field to the right, broke inside and used a couple of hip fakes for an exciting 14 yard run and a Wildcat first down. On third and 7 from the 24, Zach Butcher took a handoff left, cut through the line and ran untouched into the end zone. Novak's third extra point of the game stretched the Wildcat lead to 21-7 with eight minutes left in the third quarter, and the Wildcats appeared to be pulling away.

After the teams exchanged punts, the Tigers found themselves first and 10 on their own 45 yard line. Two first downs got the ball to the Wildcat 22 yard line. But the Wildcat defense didn't budge, and Fridley turned the ball over on downs at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

On the Wildcats' first play of the fourth quarter, disaster struck. Willhite injured his knee and had to be carried off the field. There was no way to know the extent of the injury at the time. Jeff Sargeant replaced Willhite at quarterback.

The drive stalled. Brandon Dawson's punt bounced over the head of the Tiger return man to the Tiger 19 yard line, and the Wildcats smothered him at the 22 for a net punt of 47 yards. But on third and two from the 30, the Tigers pulled themselves together. Quarterback Saye ran left, cut up the middle and galloped 70 yards into the end zone to cut the Wildcat lead to 21-14 with nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Reed, Jeff Sargeant and Chad Haider took turns running the ball as the Wildcats moved down the field. Bur Reed lost a yard on fourth and two from the Tiger 30, and the Tigers took over on downs. On the very next play, the Tigers threw a high pass into the wind, and Steven Wagner picked it off near midfield. To add insult to injury, the Tigers were called for a personal foul on the play, giving the Wildcats the ball on the Tiger 34 yard line. After a sack and a penalty, the Wildcats lined up to punt on fourth and 1 at the 45 with three minutes remaining. Dawson lofted the ball towards the goal line. The Tiger return man got out of the way. The ball hit at the five, rolled a little and settled at the two yard line.

The Tigers had their backs against the wall and just one timeout remaining. They managed a couple of first downs, but used up most of the clock to do it. On fourth and six from their own 41 and just 30 seconds remaining, three Wildcats chased Saye in the backfield, forcing him to throw an incomplete pass. Jeff Sargeant knelt the ball down, and the Wildcats had a hard-earned 21-14 win.

"We only turned the ball over once," said Weiss, "and we got that one right back. We had three big plays that broke for touchdowns, but mostly we just moved the chains. We felt like we were in control, but we were never able to break it open on the scoreboard. It was one of those dangerous games that can slip away from you and you wonder how it happened. I was really proud of how the kids stepped it up when Andy got hurt. He's a big part of our team, and a less mature team would worry about things they can't control. Our guys stayed poised and we kept ourselves in position to win."

Weiss talked about some of the game's unsung heroes. "A lot of times, the guys up front on the defense aren't noticed," he said. "Fridley has had a lot of success running the ball up the middle on film, but Jake Elzy and Mark Sandgren played solid and didn't allow that. Mark had a big fumble recovery for us. And Jake, especially, played one of his best games for us.

"Brandon Dawson's punt at the end of the game was huge," said Weiss. "He nailed it right where it needed to be, it stayed in bounds, dropped and used up some time before it rolled dead at the two. They didn't even attempt to return because it was too high. A hundred things can go wrong on a play like that, and everything went right for us. And the statistics says it's tough to score from 98 yards away, so we thought we were in pretty good shape at that time."

The Wildcats were scheduled to play Columbia Heights at home Wednesday, October 15 in their final regular season game. Later examination revealed that Willhite's knee wasn't seriously damaged, and he was likely going to play in the Columbia Heights game.

The Wildcats will open section play next Tuesday, October 21 at 7 p.m. They'll likely have at least one home game. The Wildcats chance of one or more home game increased when section favorite Mahtomedi was found to have used an ineligible player in five of its wins this season, and those wins were ruled to be forfeit losses. Mahtomedi's record went from 6-1 to 1-6. The forfeits mean the Wildcats have a shot at the number one seed in the section. The semifinal games will take place Saturday, October 25, and the section championship game is on Friday, October 31.

SCORING SUMMARY

1 2 3 4 F

Chisago Lakes 0 14 7 0 21

Fridley 0 7 0 7 14

First Quarter

No scoring

Second Quarter

C-Reed 30 run (Novak kick)

F-Saye 2 run (Wiggins kick)

C-Willhite 21 run (Novak kick)

Third Quarter

C-Butcher 21 run (Novak kick)

Fourth Quarter

F-Saye 70 run (Wiggins kick)

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