Wildcats upset Mahtomedi in season opener

The monkey is off the back of the Chisago Lakes Wildcat football team. Mitch Berg’s 46 yard touchdown pass to Miles Turk with just under three minutes left in the game and a two-point conversion by Josh Parks gave the Wildcats a 29-22 lead over former section rival Mahtomedi. The Wildcat defense came up with a big stop on fourth down at the Wildcat ten yard line with 18 seconds left in the game and, for the first time in 11 years, the Wildcats had beaten the Zephyrs. The season opening non-conference game was played last Friday, August 31 at Mahtomedi. The Wildcats trailed 22-15 at the beginning of the fourth quarter at their own 31 yard line. A 16 yard pass to Zupko and a 25 yarder to Josh Parks helped to move the ball into the red zone. On second and four from the Zephyr ten, Berg’s pass was tipped and a Zephyr defender made a diving interception at the seven yard line.

The Zephyrs managed one first down, but were forced to punt on fourth and eight from their own 19. The punt rolled dead at midfield, but the Wildcats were called for running into the kicker. With the ball at the 24, the Zephyrs re-kicked. But the punter shanked it and the Wildcats took over at the Zephyr 35. On second and four, Parks took a pitch right, pulled out of an ankle tackle and raced down the sideline. He dove just inside the pylon into the end zone for a touchdown, and the Wildcats had pulled within 22-21 with 4:20 left in the game. After a five yard delay of game penalty, the pass for a two point conversion attempt failed and the Wildcats still trailed by one. The Zephyrs lined up expecting an onside kick, but Wildcat kicker Dan Sargeant popped the ball over the front lines. The ball bounced to the 15, where it was recovered by the Zephyrs. The Wildcat defense forced the Zephyrs into a three and out and, after a 36 yard punt, the Wildcats took over on their own 42 with 3:06 left in the game. Parks took a pitch right and was forced out of bounds after a 12 yard gain. On the next play, Berg dropped back to pass. He let it fly towards Turk running deep across the middle of the field. Turk caught the ball in stride at the 10 and ran into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game to give the Wildcats the lead. On the two point conversion attempt, Parks took a pitch right and appeared headed for the corner. But he cut back a couple of steps from the sideline and plowed into the end zone to make the score 29-22 with 2:51 left in the game. The Zephyrs got the ball back on their own 41 after the kickoff. They moved the ball downfield, but the Wildcat defense made them earn every yard. After twelve plays, including two fourth down conversions, Mahtomedi faced fourth and four at the Wildcat 12 with 23 seconds remaining.

They handed the ball off to running back Jackson Hull, who had gained 230 yards on 44 carries to that point in the game. But Hull was stopped by linebacker Caleb Johnson after gaining just two yards and the Wildcats took over on downs. After Berg knelt the ball down for the final play of the game, the Wildcats sideline erupted and the 200 or so Wildcat fans that had traveled to the game cheered wildly. “That was a fun one,” said Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss. “”It was just one of those things that they had our number the last few years. We felt we could compete with them and we hadn’t been able to get past them for quite some time. We jumped at chance to play them. Historically, we have scheduled top-notch nonconference opponents. Mahtomedi has a great program. With our history with them, it’s something we wanted to take a shot at.” The Wildcats outplayed the Zephyrs in the first half but still found themselves trailing 14-12 at halftime. Eric Brown returned the opening kickoff 30 yards to the Wildcat 40. On first down from the Mahtomedi 17, Berg dropped back and hit Kellen Reed with a crossing pass at the 10. Reed ran kept moving, spun out of a tackle at the four and stepped into the end zone to put the Wildcats on the scoreboard just three and a half minutes into the game. The Wildcats missed the extra point and led 6-0. On the ensuing drive, the Zephyrs moved the ball from the Wildcat 30 downfield mostly on the legs of Hull. Facing fourth and three from the 15, Zephyr quarterback Colin Baumgard overthrew a receiver near the right flag. But the Wildcats were called for pass interference, giving the Zephyrs a first down on the 8. Hull burst up the middle for a touchdown on the next play and, after the extra point, the Zephyrs led 7-6. After a Wildcat punt on their next possession, the Hull again led the Zephyrs down the field. But on fourth and two from the Wildcat 38, a gang of Wildcats led by Bradee Thompson stuffed Hull for a one yard loss and the Wildcats took over on downs. On the next play, Berg hit Parks with a pass in the left flat and Parks flew down the sidelines, getting knocked out of bounds at the Mahtomedi 23 after a 38 yard gain. A Mahtomedi penalty and two plays later, the Wildcats faced third and 11 at the Zephyr 14. Berg dropped back to pass and fired low toward Turk in the middle. Turk dove just over the goal line to make a spectacular touchdown catch. The Wildcat two point conversion attempt failed and they led 12-7 with six minutes left in the first half.

On the ensuing kickoff, it looked like Hull was going to take it back all the way, but Sargeant made a touchdown saving tackle and the Zephyrs went to work at the Wildcat 49. On third and three from the Wildcat 42, Baumgard dropped back to pass. A Wildcat rusher had Baumgard in his grasp for what looked like a sack, but Baumgard slipped out and ran toward the left sideline. He stopped and uncorked a high, deep pass. A wide open Zephyr receiver caught it at the ten yard line and waltzed into the end zone. What should have been a punt-forcing sack turned into a Zephyr touchdown and the Wildcats trailed 14-12 with 4:14 left in the half. Mahtomedi recovered an onside kick, but their drive was stopped on downs at the Wildcat 41. The Wildcats moved 38 yards in 6 plays, including a 19 yard reception by Brown. On third and 8 with 31 seconds remaining in the half, Brown found himself wide open in the left flat. But the pass fell short. A fourth down pass was also incomplete and the half ended with the Wildcats down by two. The Wildcats forced the Zephyrs to punt on the opening possession of the second half and took over on their own 28. On third and two from the 36, Brown took a pitch left, turned the corner and appeared headed to the end zone. But he pulled up after about 20 yards and hopped on one leg out of bounds for a 32 yard gain. Brown was done for the night with what turned out to be a flare-up of a hamstring injury. Fullback Kaleb Paehlke gained 22 yards on three carries sandwiched around an incomplete pass. Facing fourth and two from the ten, the Wildcats decided to attempt a field goal. Hunter Lindstrom, seeing his first action of 2012, kicked the ball down the middle high over the uprights for a 27 yard field goal to give the Wildcats a 15-14 lead midway through the third quarter. But the lead was short-lived. The Zephyrs Went on a 12 play, 62 yard drive that was capped off by a two yard touchdown run by Hull. Wildcat defensive lineman Avery Peterson was hurt on the play and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher after about 20 minutes. After the two point conversion, the Zephyrs led 22-15, setting the stage for the Wildcat come from behind win. “Avery is fine,” said Weiss, talking about his injured lineman.

“He had all feeling and movement in his extremities, but his neck was a little stiff. It was a precautionary move to take him to the hospital. But it was the right thing to do, because you never know when it involves the head and neck. Avery was feeling fine later that same night. Right now we are not sure of his availability to return. Eric Brown has had an injured hamstring for over a month. As of now, he’s not doing anything. He’ll be going through some rehab and recovery and his return date is uncertain.” The Wildcats had a number of players come up with big plays in this one. Weiss said “Based on previous years’ experience, we expected some guys to play big. But there were some newcomers who really stepped it up in their first significant actions. Berg played a heck of a game. And senior Miles Turk had one whale of a game. Last year he was primarily a role player for us. He saw limited action and played on special teams. He’s a multisport athlete who works hard. There’s something about football and senior year that makes a lot of guys step it up. I’m really pleased for Miles. Another unsung player is senior lineman D.J. O’Brien. Last year he saw limited time. Against Mahtomedi, he graded out very well. He worked hard in the offseason and his efforts have been paying off so far.” In addition to playing well on the line, one of the Wildcats’ returning stars helped out in another area. “Dan Sargeant’s pooch kick in the when we were down 22-21 was a huge play. Mahtomedi was ready for the onside kick. But we had confidence in our defense and three timeouts left.

We wanted to find a hole deep and cover it – that’s what they were giving us. Dan had a couple of other nice, deep kicks in the game.” Weiss had praise for the Wildcats’ opponents. “Forty-five carries in one game is a lot of carries,” he said. “But when you watched Hull run, you could see why they gave him the ball that many times. And they have a very good quarterback and receivers. Their tight end is a D-1 prospect who is a devastating blocker. They did hit one long pass on a broken play in the first half. It’s hard to say why they didn’t connect more, though it had something to do with a combination of pressure and coverage by our defense. We caught a few breaks here and there and things went well for us.” The Wildcats will take on the Fridley Tigers in their home opener tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at the Chisago Lakes High School Stadium. The Tigers crushed Como Park 49-7 in their season opener. Weiss said “Fridley was a young team last year. With more experience this year, they put up a lot of points and ran all over the field. It should be a tough game.” The Wildcats beat the Tigers 36-20 at Fridley last year.