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It was spooky how well the Wildcats moved the ball on their opening drive against the top-seeded Mahtomedi Zephyrs in the Section 4AAAA semifinals. Unfortunately, they failed to convert a field goal attempt at the end of the drive. Then a Halloween nightmare ensued as Mahtomedi scored 28 unanswered points before halftime on their way to a 35-2 win over the Wildcats at Mahtomedi on Saturday afternoon, October 31. The loss knocked the Wildcats out of the playoffs and kept the Zephyrs at home to host the sixth-seeded Hill-Murray Pioneers in tomorrow night's section championship game.

Fullback Cody Bergquist led the attack for the Wildcats on the opening drive, carrying the ball four times for 24 yards. The Wildcats looked impressive as they pounded the ball down to the Mahtomedi 20 in 12 plays. But the drive stalled there and the Wildcats came away empty handed.

"We did some nice things at the beginning of the game," said Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss. "We were able to generate some offense, but we missed the field goal. When they took over, we stuffed them on the first two plays. But they got a first down on a play-action pass and scored a few plays later." That eight-play touchdown drive, with an extra point tacked on, put the Zephyrs up 7-0 early in the first quarter.

The Wildcats went three and out on their next drive, and after a short punt the Zephyrs took over at the Wildcat 48 yard line. They scored on the next play, a 48-yard run that doubled the lead to 14-0.

Early in the second quarter, Jordan Hickcox picked off a Zephyr pass and returned it 42 yards to put the Wildcats in great field position. But the Wildcats again failed to move the ball and had to punt. Steven Wagner recovered a fumble two plays later, but the Wildcats were again forced to punt after three plays. The Zephyrs managed to hang on to the ball this time, which was bad news for the Wildcats. Mahtomedi drove 75 yards in five plays, including a 46 yard run, and capped it off with a seven-yard touchdown pass to make the score 21-0. The Zephyrs scored on a short drive just before halftime to go up 28-0.

The Wildcats forced another fumble early in the third quarter, again recovered by the ever-present Wagner. But Mahtomedi scored again late in the quarter. The Wildcats avoided the shutout as they stopped the Zephyrs deep in their own territory late in the fourth quarter. Mahtomedi lined up to punt with the punter just a yard in front of the end line. He leaped high to catch a bad snap, and as he came down his foot touched the end line, giving the Wildcats two points for a safety. But that only made the final score look a little different as the Wildcats went down to a 35-2 defeat.

"After the first drive, we just couldn't get anything going" said Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss. "It was kind of frustrating in that regard. We didn't take advantage of any of their three turnovers. You've got to convert on some of those situations, because they don't come about very often. We needed to make some stops defensively, too, but didn't do that either. Our special teams gave us some nice field position, but we just weren't able to take advantage of it."

Joey Reed led the Wildcats with six rushes for 99 yards.

Weiss talked a little bit about next season. He said "We have a pretty good core of guys coming back, starting with Jeff Sargeant at quarterback. Jordan Hickcox will be another key player and has been especially effective on defense as a one-on-one pass defender. Cory Lushanko continues to be a threat with his playmaking ability. And, just like every year in football, we lose a lot of good senior players to graduation but look forward to finding out who will step up and fill those holes next season."

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