'Cats defend turf on homecoming, beat Tigers 28-12

Last Friday night, over 2,000 fans saw a homecoming game at Chisago Lakes High School filled with turnovers, penalties and injuries. But there were also fireworks during and after the game. The fireworks display after the game was sponsored by local businesses. The fireworks during the game were sponsored by Will Gillach and Josh Parks. Gillach’s third quarter pick six was the turning point in the game, putting the Wildcats up 21-6, and Parks’ electrifying 32 yard touchdown run with just over four minutes remaining in the game sealed the win, as the Wildcats beat Princeton 28-12.

Rain marred the first half, as both the players and the football were slipping and sliding all over. The rain stopped at halftime, but it didn’t stop the turnovers. The Wildcats led 14-6 and faced first and ten from their own 35 yard line with 7:37 left in the third quarter. Mitch Berg bobbled the snap from center and a Tiger player fell on it at the 34. Two plays later, the Tigers faced third and ten from the 34. Princeton quarterback Sam Archer dropped back and fired a pass to the left flat. Gillach timed it perfectly, stepping in front of the receiver and intercepting the ball in stride. Gillach was ten yards down the field before the Tigers knew what had hit them and outraced them all the way to the end zone for a touchdown and a 21-6 Wildcat lead. It was the first pick six of Gillach’s career. Gillach said “I saw the screen and I jumped it. I kind of baited him. As I ran down the field, I looked back and I was laughing and smiling.”

With just under four and a half minutes left in the game Princeton, trailing 21-12, decided to go for it on fourth and seven from their own 36. Archer’s pass to the right was knocked down by Kyle Graeve and the Wildcats took over on downs. One play later, on second and seven from the 33, Berg handed the ball off to Parks. Parks didn’t find any running room up the middle, so he bounced left and took off. He got near the left sideline, turned upfield and ran all the way to the end zone, giving the Wildcats a 28-12 lead with 4:21 left to play. Parks said “I was running right up the middle. The linebacker filled in, so I bounced it outside. It was pretty wide open. I like to try to find the outside because that’s where I think I excel at. That’s where I can get space and do work out there. It was open so I took it.”

The game started off well for the Wildcats. Starting from their own 35 after the opening kickoff, they went on a ten play drive highlighted by several nice runs by Parks. On fourth and goal from inside the one, the offensive line created a big hole up the middle and Parks waltzed into the end zone for a touchdown. The Wildcats went for two. They used a trick play, snapping the ball to an offset Dylan Wood, who plowed across the goal line to put the Wildcats up 8-0 with seven minutes left in the first quarter. On the ensuing possession, Princeton faced fourth and one from their own 33. They tried a fake punt, but Kellen Reed tackled the punter in the backfield for an eight yard loss. Six plays later on third and three from the eight, the Wildcats lined up in a triple-I formation. Berg took the snap, slid left a few steps and waltzed into the end zone. The extra point try failed and the Wildcats led 14-0 with 2:26 left in the first quarter. It looked like the rout was on.

But Princeton had other ideas. They went on a ten play drive that spilled over into the second quarter. On second and nine from the Wildcat 38, tight end Billy McClay ran a post pattern and got behind the Wildcat defense. Archer threw the ball to McClay at the goal line for a wide open touchdown. The try for two fell incomplete and the Wildcats led 14-6 midway through the second quarter. After some fumbles resulted in changes of possession, Princeton ran the final drive of the half. On first down from the Wildcat 40 with less than ten seconds remaining, Archer dropped back to pass. A whole host of Wildcats burst through the line and Matt Hasselquist had the honor of sacking Archer to end the half. Leading 21-6, the Wildcats went for it on fourth and seven from their own 48 with 16 seconds left in the third quarter.

Berg’s pass attempt was broken up and Princeton had good field position. And they took advantage of it. Ten plays later, on third and nine from the 13, Archer threw a ball toward McClay in the right front corner of the end zone. There was nobody within ten yards of McClay and he easily caught it for a touchdown. The Tigers went for two, but Brandon Gillespie knocked the pass down at the line of scrimmage and the Wildcats led 21-12. Once the Wildcats took a 28-12 lead late in the game on Parks’ touchdown, Princeton was out of its element. They needed to score twice. Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss said “They’re the type of team that goes on long sustained drives based on the run.

They had to score fast, but they didn’t have the time to grind out their running attack. I felt we had them, barring a mistake. “ Parks got just 11 carries in the game, but turned those 11 carries into 108 yards. Fans and and even a reporter were wondering why Parks didn’t get the ball more. According to Parks, it was all part of the game plan. He said, “They were playing me pretty hard, so we were giving it to the fullback a lot.” That fullback, Kaleb Paehlke, carried the ball 14 times for 87 hard-earned yards in the game.

But Paehlke didn’t have any special inspiration for his big game. He said, “We knew this was a big game coming in. Our linemen just worked so hard. They were a big team, a good team, and we just came out and fought. And we won. That’s how it is. I feel amazing. This is the greatest win I’ve ever had. I don’t even have words for this. I’m definitely looking forward to the rest of the season. Sections, state. We’ll get there. We just need to keep working on it.”

Weiss said “It’s midway through the regular season and sometimes when teams rely heavily on one back it wears on him. Josh has been very productive and he’s in really good shape for a second half run.” Weiss said “All of our linebackers – Joe Virga, Kaleb Paehlke, Josh Dutcher and Josh Parks – made good plays. “For the most part, they slowed down the running game, which is a big part of what the Tigers do. They got some yards, but they were all hard earned yards. And Luke Koskie had a big night defensively for us. He had half a dozen tackles and half a dozen assists. “I think the story of the game was that we sustained so many injuries in the offensive line. The only guy in the same position at the beginning and the end of the game was Tyler Peterfeso at left guard. We were already thin going into the season, with Brody Boudin and Kenneth Seaton out for the year. When our starting center, Garret Rhoden, went down it really messed up our timing and resulted in a lot of false start penalties. Any time you lose your center there’s an adjustment to make. We are not sure when Garrett will be back on the field. On the defensive line, Gabe Gustafson went down in the first quarter. We also lost Jake Klein. Alex Axtell and Brandon Gillespie filled in on the defensive line and did a nice job. They got some quality reps and kept things rolling for us. I’m very proud of them.” Tomorrow night, the Wildcats (4-0) will face off against St. Michael-Albertville (4-0) in a battle of the unbeatens. It’s STMA’s homecoming and will be played at Middle School West in Albertville starting at 7 p.m. “This will be our toughest game so far,” said Weiss. They are somewhat similar to Princeton. They have a good offensive line and appear to want to establish a solid ground game. Defensively, they show a lot of different looks and movement. They are very solid all around. It presents a big challenge for us, but it should be a lot of fun.”