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The Wildcats, who had committed four turnovers at Monticello and trailed by two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter, still found themselves with a chance to win on the last play of the game.  On third and goal from the five with five seconds remaining, wide receiver/running back Will Gillach went in motion from left to right before the snap.  Quarterback Joe Kimlinger took the snap, dropped back to pass and slid a little bit to his right.  He fired a pass to Gillach at the right hash marks at about the nine yard line.  Unfortunately, Monticello sniffed out the play and hit Gillach almost immediately.  As he was going down, Gillach tried to flip the ball back to keep the play alive, but no Wildcats were in the vicinity, the Magic fell on it and the game was over.  The Wildcats suffered the first defeat of the season on a final score of 25-19.  The game was played at Monticello Middle School Friday night, October 10.

To start--the Wildcats returned the opening kickoff to their own 30 yard line and began to move the ball.  On second and 12 from the 41, Kimlinger pitched to Gillach to the right.  Gillach cut upfield, put a nice hip fake on a defender and was hauled down after a gain of 19.  But on second and seven from the Monticello 37, Kimlinger overthrew a receiver to the left.  Monticello intercepted and took over at their own 33 yard line.  The Wildcats forced a three and out, but were hurt by an incorrect call.  Facing fourth and five from the 38, Monticello lined up to punt.  The snap sailed past the Magic punter, who was able to retrieve the ball and get off a short kick.  It looked like the Wildcats would get the ball back in great field position.  But one of the referees threw a flag for too many men on the field.  Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss protested vehemently, but to no avail.  The 15 yard penalty gave Monticello the ball on the Wildcat 48 with a fresh set of downs.

The Magic had an eventful drive, with two long gains wiped out by penalties.  But they persisted.  On first down from the 24, Matt Grathwohl took the handoff, ran around left end, broke a tackle at the 20 and ran to the end zone untouched for the first score of the game.  The Magic missed the extra point and led 6-0 with just under two minutes left in the first quarter.

Gillach caught the ensuing kickoff at the nine.  Wildcat blockers opened up a nice hole and it looked like Gillach was off to the races.  He had one man to beat, but that man managed to trip up Gillach, who stumbled and fell at the Wildcat 39.  Two plays later, on second and 10 from the 50, Kimlinger took the snap, stepped to his right and ran 10 yards through a nice hole for a first down.  A five yard face mask penalty was added to the end of the run.  On second and three from the 28, Kimlinger kept the ball and headed up the middle.  He appeared to be stopped after a three yard gain, but broke loose and ran to daylight.  He crossed the goal line near the right hash mark.  Bryce Thompson missed the extra point and the Wildcats had tied the game at 6-6 with 33 seconds left in the first quarter.

Starting from their own 36, Monticello moved the ball well.  But the Wildcat defense eventually stiffened, and Monticello faced fourth and four from the Wildcat 23.  Magic quarterback Aaron Hanson dropped back and threw a rare Magic pass to a receiver in the middle of the field at the 12.  He caught the ball momentarily, but a hard hit from Gillach popped the ball loose hitting the ground for an incompletion.  The Wildcats took over on downs and went on an eight play drive.  The highlight of the drive came on first and ten from the Wildcat 34.  Kimlinger hit Michael Dunne with a bullet at the Wildcat 47 and Dunne picked up eight more yards to give the Wildcats a first down at the Magic 45.  Later in the drive, on second and two from the 22, full back Drake Gadbois plowed up the middle for four yards and a first down.  But the ball popped loose at the end of the run and Monticello recovered at their own 18 yard line with 4:44 left in the second quarter.

The Magic went on a 12 play drive that ate up most of the rest of the first half.  On second and five from the six, Hanson handed off to running back Lowell Laudert to the left.  Laudert was stopped by a whole host of Wildcats at the one, but second effort enabled him to break free and dive over the goal line for a touchdown.  The Wildcats stuffed the two point attempt and Monticello led 12-6 with 38 seconds left in the half.  The Wildcats started the ensuing drive on their own23 yard line.  On the first play of the drive, Kimlinger dropped back and zinged a pass to Michael Dunne over the middle at the 35.  The ball glanced off of Dunne’s hands and was picked off by Grathwohl, who returned it to the Wildcat one yard line before he was shoved out of bounds at the one with 22 seconds left in the half.  On the next play, Ryder Beckman scored from the one and, after an incomplete pass on a two point attempt, the Magic led 18-6.

Monticello began the opening drive of the second half at their own 25.  Their drive stalled at the Wildcat 44 and, after a punt and a 17 yard return by Gillach, the Wildcats took over at their own 23.  The Wildcats again moved the ball well, with the drive highlighted by a 21 yard run by Kimlinger.  On first down from the 25, Joe Virga ran up the middle for five.  But the ball was stripped and recovered by Monticello on the 22.  The Magic managed one first down on the ensuing drive, but were again forced to punt.  The Wildcats took over at their own 41 with just over a minute left in the third quarter.

Gadbois went up the middle for eleven yards on first down.  A few plays later, the Wildcats faced fourth and three at the Magic 41.  Kimlinger kept the ball, ran to the right and dragged a couple of tacklers with him for four yards and a first down to keep the drive alive.  On the next play, Kimlinger dropped back to pass, found no one open and took off to the right.  After a 12 yard gain, he was knocked out of bounds.  On third and five from the 20, Kimlinger threw a pass toward Gadbois at the right sideline.  Despite being held on the play, Gadbois made a great catch.  He broke loose and tiptoed down the sideline until he was knocked out of bounds at the nine for a first down.  On third and goal from the two, Kimlinger kept the ball and ran into the end zone through a huge hole up the middle.  He was stuffed trying a similar play on the two point conversion attempt and the Wildcats trailed 18-12.

The Magic put themselves in great field position, retuning a kick that was originally muffed at the five all the way to midfield.  On the sixth play of the drive, they faced fourth and three from the eight.  Hanson handed the ball off to McRae Voll, who gained just enough for the first down.  On the next play, the Wildcats had a shot at Laudert in the backfield, but the tackle was missed and Laudert ran to his left and into the end zone for a touchdown.  The Magic kicked the extra point and led 25-12 with 4:46 to go in the game.  Starting on their own 13, the Wildcats went three and out on the ensuing drive.  Dunne’s punt rolled dead at the Magic 45.  The Wildcats forced the Magic into a three and out, using up all three of their timeouts in the process.  After a short line drive punt, the Wildcats began the next drive at their own 25 with 4:01 remaining.  On second and 15 from the 36, Kimlinger threw a pass that went right into the hands of the Magic’s Voll.  Voll dropped the sure interception and, in frustration, kicked the ball while it was lying on the ground.  He was assessed a 15 yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the Wildcats a first down.  Pass completions to Dunne and Ethan Hickcox and two ten yard runs by Gillach moved the ball deep into the Magic red zone.  On third and goal from the two, Kimlinger pitched to the right to Gillach.  Gillach was initially stopped at the one, but with second effort he was able to just reach the ball over the plane of the goal line for a touchdown.  Thompson made the extra point and the Wildcats trailed 25-19 with 2:19 to go in the game.

The Wildcats tried an onside kick, but Monticello recovered at the Wildcat 47.  Nick Bomersine took the handoff but was stopped by a swarm of Wildcats after a gain of one.  With the Wildcats out of timeouts, the clock kept moving.  Voll tried to go through a nice hole on the next play, but was met by Logan Hedrick and hauled down after a gain of two.  There were 50 seconds remaining by the time the third down play was run and that meant that even if the Wildcats stopped the Magic, they would likely get the ball back deep in their own territory with just a few seconds to go in the game.  Hanson kept the ball and ran to his left.  He was hit hard by Alex Axtell and Hedrick.  The ball popped loose and Gillach fell on it at the Wildcat 38 yard line with 44 seconds remaining.

After two incomplete passes, Kimlinger connected with Gillach at the left sideline.  Gillach got out of bounds after picking up the first down.  The Wildcats tried the same play again and Gillach again caught the ball and stepped out of bounds after an eight yard gain.  He was hit after he went out of bounds and the Magic were penalized half the distance to the goal line.  20 seconds remained and the Wildcats had the ball first and goal on the ten.  Kimlinger again threw to Gillach near the left sideline, but this time he was tackled at the five before he was able to get out of bounds.  The clock kept ticking.  Kimlinger spiked the ball with five seconds remaining, giving the Wildcats one last shot at the end zone.  But, as described above, the Wildcats were stopped short of the end zone.  They had nearly snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat.

Kimlinger led the Wildcats in rushing with 16 carries for 109 yards and two touchdowns.  He was also 11 for 21 passing for 106 yards.  Gillach caught five passes for 48 yards, ran the ball seven times for 55 yards and a touchdown and led the team in tackles.   
Weiss was proud of the way his players fought through adversity.  He said “This was clearly not a good outing for us.  For our guys to fight and claw and scratch their way back and have a chance to win on a night like that is amazing.  The outcome was frustrating, but to see a group of guys refuse to quit like that is pretty neat.  Outside of our game against St. Michael earlier this year, we had been pretty good at protecting the ball.  We are disappointed that the difference maker in this game was four turnovers on our first five possessions and the fact that three of them turned into scoring drives for Monticello.  Our guys play extremely hard, fighting and scratching for the extra yard.  We don’t want to rein in that aggressive nature.”

Weiss talked about a few of the players who stood out.  “Will Gillach certainly had a big game for us offensively, defensively and on special teams.  Jake Klein had a pretty good game on the offensive line and Logan Hedrick and Luke Koskie played well on the defensive line.”
 
The Wildcats lost their season-closing game to St. Francis, dropping them all the way to the fourth seed, despite a 6-2 record. That means they'll host the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets on Tuesday, October 21 in their first round section game. The winner of that game will play top-seeded Bemidji on Saturday, October 25.

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