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The Wildcats played yet another "home" game on the road, and Jordan Hickox emerged as the latest Wildcat to make a big impact. Hickox scored his second touchdown of the game on a 50-yard fumble recovery early in the third quarter to give the Wildcats a 27-3 lead on their way to a 33-16 win over the St. Francis Fighting Saints. The green-and-gold clad Wildcats became temporary Cheeseheads as they played across the border at St. Croix Falls High School last Friday, September 19.

After an early field goal by St. Francis, the game was all Wildcats till the Saints scored a couple of late touchdowns. Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss commented "After that first drive, our defense held them out of the red zone most of the rest of the game. We moved the ball pretty well on offense and made some things happen."

The Saints started near midfield after the opening kickoff and pounded the ball at the Wildcats, moving 40 yards in ten plays. But the Wildcat defense stiffened, forcing the Saints to kick a field goal. On the ensuing kickoff, Cory Lushanko's 36 yard return gave the Wildcats the ball on the St. Francis 47 yard line. Three plays later, quarterback Andy Willhite fired up the crowd with a 29 yard touchdown run to put the Wildcats on top 7-3.

After the team exchanged punts, the Wildcats forced the Saints to punt from their own 8 yard line. Hickox returned the punt to the St. Francis 33. Lushanko ran for 14 yards on first down. Three plays later, Willhite carried the ball down to the 3 yard line to give the Wildcats first and goal. Lushanko scored on the next play to give the Wildcats a 14-3 lead.

On their next drive, the Saints faced third and 2 from their own 49 and decided to go for it. But the Wildcat defense once again came up big, stuffing a running play for a one-yard loss and taking over at the Saint's 48. Three big plays helped the Wildcats move the ball quickly down the field as the clock wound down toward halftime: Joey Reed's 10 yard reception, Brandon Dawson's 12 yard run on fourth and 3, and Lushanko's 13 yard run to give Wildcats a first down on the Saints' 11. On second down from the 12, Willhite hit Hickox in the end zone to put the Wildcats up 20-3 just seconds before the end of the half. "Andy threw a nice ball," said Weiss. "Jordan, who was running a fade route, jumped up and grabbed it. It was a nice connection."

The Wildcats started from their own 15 after the second half kickoff. Runs by Chad Haider and Brandon Dawson gave the Wildcats a first down. On the next play, Cory Lushanko found an opening and raced upfield for what looked like a nice gain. As he was being tackled near midfield, the ball popped loose. The ball bounced right into Hickox's arms, and he ran 50 yards into the end zone for another Wildcat touchdown less than two minutes into the second half to put the Wildcats up 27-3. "That was one of those plays where the break just went our way," said Weiss. "Jordan was hustling downfield, the ball bounced into his lap and he took it in for the score. He was in the right place at the right time."

The Wildcats moved the ball well on their next possession, going 53 yards in 10 plays. A fumble ended that drive, but the Wildcat defense gave the ball back to the offense on the Saints' 37 yard line. Alex Carlson's 9 yard reception, his second of the game, moved the ball to the 28. Two plays later, Lushanko ran 27 yards for a touchdown to put the Wildcats up 33-3 at the end of the third quarter.

The Saints made some noise in the fourth quarter, but not enough to threaten the Wildcat lead. On the second play of the quarter, Saints quarterback Anthony Carlton hit wide receiver Matt Polis with a 68 yard touchdown pass. "The receiver ran a good route, the quarterback threw a nice ball and they connected on it," said Weiss. On the next Wildcats' possession, the Saints stripped the ball and raced 50 yards to close the gap to 33-16. But it was too little, too late as the Wildcats topped the Saints' final drive to claim the victory.

Weiss was impressed with the performance of his defense. "St. Francis moved the ball on the first drive, but we stopped them inside the ten and held them to a field goal. We shut down their offense for the most part. We've had some guys play pretty consistently all year long. Also, we had several players out with injuries. The new faces that replaced them seemed to pick things up pretty quickly. Henry Fitzpatrick played well up front. Brandon Dawson was running all over the place." Dawson led the Wildcats with 11.5 tackles, including two for losses.

The Wildcats ran for 318 yards on the day. Lushanko led all runners with 97 yards on six carries. But the Wildcats spread the ball around, with nine players having ten or more yards rushing for the game. Said Weiss "The way our running game has been all year, its running back-by-committee. We don't really have any featured backs. Many of our running backs play on defense, as well, and being able to rotate so many backs in and out gives us a chance to rest them on offense."

"Overall, we had a solid team performance," said Weiss. "We got a little better at every position this week. As weak as things were a week ago, we made some nice strides in all three phases of the game. This game was definitely a step in the right direction."

The Wildcats (3-1) face their biggest test of the season this Friday as they travel to Fridley to play the Totino Grace Eagles (3-1). The Eagles lost a televised game at Becker 20-7 last Friday. "We're in the meat of the schedule right now," said Weiss. "It's tough to say where Totino is at. They're a solid program. They're well coached and well prepared. It should be a heck of a game. We're really looking forward to it."

SCORING SUMMARY

1 2 3 4 F

St. Francis 3 0 0 13 16

Chisago Lakes 7 13 13 0 33

First Quarter

SF-FG Dunblazier 26

CL-Willhite 29 run (Novak kick)

Second Quarter

CL-Lushanko 3 run (Novak kick)

CL-Hickcox 12 pass from Willhite (kick failed)

Third Quarter

CL-Hickcox 75 run (Novak kick)

CL-Lushanko 27 run (kick failed)

Fourth Quarter

SF-Polis 68 pass from Carlton (pass failed)

SF-Scardigli 55 fumb. return (Dunblazier kick)

STADIUM UPDATE

Although Activities Director Perry Aadland wouldn't give an outright confirmation that the new stadium would be ready for Chisago Lakes' homecoming, he did say that it is "looking very favorable" that the Oct. 3 game against Irondale will be held there. "We are getting things done to get to that point right now, the lights got on on Friday night, and so did the scoreboard," he said.

Aadland said there will be a final decision to be made this week. Check out next weeks edition of the Chisago County Press to see if homecoming will be in Chisago Lakes or at another alternate location.

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