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Holy Angels 28, Chisago Lakes 0

Last year, the Wildcats opened the season with a 35-28 win over the Holy Angels Stars at Holy Angels. This season, the Stars returned the favor, shutting out the young Wildcats 28-0 at Chisago Lakes High School in the season opener Friday, September 2 . After a scoreless first quarter, the Stars scored three touchdowns in the second quarter. The teams played a scoreless third quarter before Holy Angels added a late touchdown for the final margin of victory.

Speedy Wildcats junior Eric Brown returned the opening kickoff 38 yards to the Wildcat 43 yard line. But the Wildcats failed to move the ball and were forced to punt. The Stars quickly moved the ball down the field and faced second and five from the Wildcat 19 yard line. Linebacker Brandon Mariakis forced a fumble, lineman Taylor Streitz recovered and the Wildcats were back in business.

The drive stalled again quickly, and the Wildcats lined up to punt on fourth and seven from their own 22 yard line. But the fake was on. Punter Trevor Thurnbeck ran seven yards, just enough for a first down, and the drive kept going. After a holding penalty and a two yard gain, the Wildcats faced third and 18 from their own 24 yard line. Sophomore Josh Parks, carrying the ball for the first time since injuring his ankle against St. Francis last year, tore off an 18 yard gain. The Wildcats faced fourth and four on their own 42. Believe it or not, punter Thurnbeck tried another fake and made it again, gaining the four yards the Wildcats needed for a first down.

Two plays later, junior quarterback Bradee Thompson hit Brown with a ten yard pass for a first down. On second and eight from the 40, Brown raced 18 yards to put the ball on the Holy Angels 22 yard line. After junior fullback Dan Sargeant went for six yards on first down, the quarter ended. The Wildcat drive had used up most of the first quarter.

Two plays and a penalty later, the Wildcats faced fourth down from the 25 yard line. Thompson was sacked for a loss of five yards, and Holy Angels took over on their own 30 yard line. After a two yard gain on first down, Stars quarterback Sam Keis hooked up with Will Pagel for a 68 yard touchdown play. The Wildcats blocked the extra point, and the Stars led 6-0.

The Wildcats started from their own 25 on their next possession. Three plays later, they were forced to punt from their own 22 yard line. This time, Thurnbeck actually punted the ball. But the Stars blocked the punt and recovered at the Wildcat 12 yard line. Two plays later, Keis went in from the one. After a two point conversion, the Wildcats trailed 14-0.

The Wildcats failed to move the ball again. They punted successfully and the Stars took over on their own 30 yard line. After a four play drive, highlighted by a 30 yard Keis to Pagel pass and a 35 yard touchdown run by Anthony Baysah, the Wildcats trailed 21-0. Late in the second quarter, Mariakis forced another fumble, senior Lawrence Zaun recovered and the Wildcats took over at the Stars' 27 yard line. Brown's 13 yard run on third down gave the Wildcats first down on the 10. But they fumbled on the next play, and Holy Angels just needed to run one play to end the half and send the Wildcats into the locker room down 21-0. "We had a good chance to cut the lead to 21-7 at the half," said Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss, "and we didn't take advantage of it."

The Wildcat defense righted itself after halftime, allowing just 29 yards for the entire third quarter and most of the fourth quarter. But other than a 23 yard run by Brown on the first offensive play of the third quarter and an 11 yard pass from Thompson to senior Danny Kimlinger, the Wildcats didn't move the ball much themselves. They tried yet another fake punt late in the fourth quarter, but this time the Stars were ready for it. They tackled Thurnbeck for a loss of six yards and took over at the Wildcats 23 yard line. Mikias Alipate scored three plays later, and the extra point made the final score Holy Angels 28, Chisago Lakes 0.

Eric Brown led the Wildcats with 66 yards on 14 carries and Josh Parks had 41 yards on eight carries as the Wildcats were held to just 159 yards of total offense for the game. Weiss said "In the time Jeff [offensive coordinator Jeff Saueressig] and I have coached together, we can count the number of times we have been shut out on one hand. We had our opportunities, but we had several balls dropped by surehanded receivers that would have been scores, or at least darn near scores. Also, Holy Angels was a physical team that came out and, after our first drive, took away the things that we do well. The bottom line is that we just didn't produce offensively. Our guys are young, but they're good learners and will get better each week."

Weiss was encouraged by the play of his defense, especially after halftime. He said "Our kids elevated their level of play in the second half. Defensively, we did a very good job of stopping them. And Brandon Mariakis caused a couple of fumbles in the first half that helped to keep us in the game.'

At quarterback, the Wildcats alternated between juniors Bradee Thompson and Jake Sandgren. But neither one emerged as a clear-cut starter. "Our offense wasn't very effective," said Weiss, "but you can't necessarily blame that on the quarterbacks. It was more of a lack of execution by the whole eleven man offense. Also, Holy Angels was a big and physical team. I don't think we answered a lot of questions about the quarterback position based on one game."

Tomorrow night, the Wildcats open conference play against last year's conference champion, the Spring Lake Park Panthers. The game is at Spring Lake Park and starts at 7 p.m. The Panthers shut out Irondale 17-0 in their season opener.

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