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The Wildcat football team trailed 6-0 with three minutes left in the first half of last Friday's homecoming game against second-ranked Totino Grace. But just four minutes later, straddling the first and second halves, Eagle running back John Crockett had scored his second, third and fourth touchdowns of the game and the Wildcats trailed 26-0. The Eagles held the Wildcat offense in check for the rest of the game and came away with a 33-6 win.

After misplaying the game's opening kickoff, the Wildcats started from their own five. On third and 8 from the 7, Jeff Sargeant's 9 yard keeper up the middle gave the Wildcats a first down and a little breathing room. But the drive stalled there, and the Eagles began their first drive at the Wildcat 37 after a short punt.

The Wildcat defense stonewalled the Eagles running attack, holding them to 3 yards and forcing a punt. The Totino Grace punt sailed into the end zone, allowing the Wildcats to start at the 20. But the Wildcats hadn't moved the ball three plays later, and after another short punt the Eagles started at the Wildcat 40. The Eagles quickly moved the ball to the Wildcat 19. On first down, Crockett took a pitch right and outraced the Wildcat defense into the end zone. A low snap on the extra point attempt forced the holder to scramble, and after an incomplete pass kept the Eagle lead at 6-0 midway through the first quarter.

Jordan Hickcox returned the kickoff to the 36. The Wildcats went three and out, and the Eagles returned the punt to the Wildcat 38. On third and 10, Crockett took a pitch right and started to take off. But Cody Bergquist caught him from behind, holding him to a 2 yard gain and forcing the Eagles to punt.

The Wildcats began the drive at their own 12. They began to move the ball, getting three first downs mostly from the arm and legs of Sargeant. Having eaten up the first five minutes of the second quarter, the Wildcats went for it on fourth and two from the Eagle 41. Fullback Nathan Gilman plowed up the middle and appeared to have the first down, but a horrible spot by the officials left the Wildcats a yard short, turning the ball over to the Eagles.

The Eagles moved the ball down to the Wildcat 32. On first and 10, Crockett showed his speed again by running around end, turning the corner and outracing the Wildcats to the end zone. A two pointer put the Eagles up 14-0. With 3:09 left in the half. After a Wildcat three and out, the Eagles returned the punt to their own 47. On the next play, Crockett took the ball up the middle, burst into the open and ran down the field for his third touchdown of the game, putting his team up 20-0 after another botched extra point with 1:14 left in the half.

The Eagles put any thoughts of a Wildcat comeback to rest on the opening drive of the second half. They returned the kickoff to their own 42. On second and 6, Crockett again showed off his speed, bursting in the open and going 54 yards to score his fourth touchdown of the game with just over one minute gone in the half.

After a three and out, the Wildcats were forced to punt from their own 34. Brandon Dawson boomed one down to the Eagle 20. He Eagle return man started upfield, but the Wildcats stripped the ball out after a few yards. Brandon Mariakis recovered the fumble, and it looked like the Wildcats were in business at the Eagle 26. But the Wildcats gave it right back, as the Eagles picked off a pass and returned it to their own 34. The Eagles picked up two first downs and had the ball at their own 44. On first down, they passed the ball to Crockett in the right flat. He started upfield, but Bryan Eichten blasted him and the ball popped loose. Eichten jumped on it at midfield and the Wildcats had the ball in great field position.

The Wildcats again failed to move the ball and were forced to punt from the Eagle 48. Dawson's punt sailed down to the Eagle 20. The Eagle return man reached up to field the punt and it slipped through his fingers. Wildcat Matt Stamos streaked after the ball as it bounded towards the end zone. He pounced on it at the 1 yard line. The Wildcats quickly took advantage of the turnover. On second down, Hickcox burst into the end zone for the first Wildcat score after the game. The Wildcats went for two and failed, leaving the Eagle lead at 26-6 with 4 minutes left in the third quarter. But the Eagles got those points right back, adding a touchdown three minutes later. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats had a nice 5 minute drive that stalled at the Eagle 16. The final score remained Totino Grace 33, Chisago Lakes 6.

For the Eagles, Crockett finished with 15 carries for 190 yards and 4 touchdowns. "We knew Crockett was pretty good going into the game," said Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss. "He's one of the top offensive players in the conference and he had a very good night. But we had some things going on defense, especially in the first quarter. They had the wind at their backs and were close to four down territory and we forced them to punt a couple of times. They made some adjustments and ultimately got their machine to work and did it well."

Weiss noted some positives the Wildcats can build on as they get deeper into the season. "We ended up plus two on turnovers," he said, "one of which led to a score. At least it kept the game from completely getting away from us. On one of the plays Bryan Eichten just ripped the ball out of the kid's hands. If you can do things like that against a good team like Grace, you at least have something you can hang your hat on. But, overall, we didn't have enough things going on in the game to be able to do what e expected to do. On offense, we couldn't get anything going consistently to really get in a position to score. For a variety of reasons, it just did not happen."

Weiss continued "There's a set of statistics that show you how well things went but why we still have a ways to go. They only converted two of eight third downs. But they were three-for-three on fourth downs and we were oh-for-three on fourth downs. On those short fourth down plays, we've got to lower our shoulders and drive our feet to get those first downs. We weren't able to do that consistently and the Eagles were able to do it."

The seventh-place Wildcats (2-3) will face conference foe Irondale (3-2, third place) tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Irondale. "They have a spread offensive team," said Weiss, "with a very good dual threat quarterback. Also, they have an athletic offensive lineman who is a Gopher recruit and one of the top high school prospects in the state. The Knights have been able to put up a lot of points this season.

It's another great challenge for us. On our end, I think there are some things we can build on. This should be a good high school football team."

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