---

What a way to start a season.

Trevin Nelson scored on a 13 yard run with just under five minutes left in the fourth quarter to give the Wildcats a 19-16 lead and they hung on for an amazing comeback win over the St. Cloud Tech Tigers last Friday, August 21 at Chisago Lakes High School.  The Wildcats trailed 16-0 at halftime, but scored 19 unanswered points in the second half, with quarterback Ethan Hickcox leading all three touchdown drives.

After cutting the deficit to 16-13 with 8.6 seconds left in the third quarter, lightning flashed in the sky and play was suspended for nearly two hours as the lightning kept coming.  When the game resumed, the Wildcats picked up right where they left off as they went on the winning drive.

After forcing the Wildcats into a three and out on the game’s opening drive, the Tigers started their first drive at their own 49 after a 25 yard punt into the wind by Dylan Wood.  The Tigers’ six play drive stalled at the 24 yard line and they kicked a 41 yard field goal to go up 3-0 midway through the first quarter.  The Wildcats managed one first down on the ensuing possession, but the drive stalled at their own 43.  Wood’s punt into a fierce wind ended up going just two yards, giving St. Cloud Tech great field position.  The Tigers ate up most of the rest of the first quarter, going 45 yards in 10 plays and scoring a touchdown from three yards out.  The extra point was good, and St. Cloud Tech was up 10-0.

With the wind at their backs to start the second quarter, the Wildcats moved the ball well.  On the fifth play of the drive, facing second and one from their own 40, quarterback Bryce Thompson hit running back Brenden Boudin for a 14 yard gain and a first down.  Four plays later, on on second and nine from the Tiger 34, Thompson called his own number and picked up 12 yards and a first down.  But on third and eight from the 20, Thompson fumbled and the Tigers recovered at the 23.  The Tigers went on an 11 play drive, pounding the ball down the field and mixing in a couple of passes.  They ran it into the end zone from seven yards out.  They missed the extra point, but still led 16-0 with not much time left in the first half.

The Tigers took the second half kickoff and started from their own 20.  On fourth and 8 from the 22, the Tigers surprised the Wildcats with a fake punt, running the ball 15 yards for a first down.  Later in the drive, on third and nine from the St. Cloud Tech 49, defensive back Anders Brown broke up a pass that would have been good for a first down and the Tigers were forced to punt.  The ball was downed at the Wildcat ten yard line.  The Wildcats went three and out and were forced to punt from their own 13 yard line.  Punting with the wind, Wood got off a 62 yard punt that was downed at the Tiger 25 yard line, immediately giving the Wildcats the field position advantage.  Vaughn Strenke broke up a pass attempt on third and two from the St. Cloud Tech 33 and the Tigers lined up to punt.  They tried a fake punt from deep in their own territory for the second time in the game, but this time the Wildcats were ready.  Wood and Jack Roth combined to tackle the runner for a one yard loss and the Wildcats had the ball at the Tiger 32.

The Wildcats quickly took advantage of the opportunity.  Ethan Hickcox came in to replace Thompson at quarterback.  On second and seven, he connected with Gadbois for seven yards and a first down.  Gadbois blasted up the middle for 14 yards on the next play, giving the Wildcats another first down at the seven yard line.  Nelson ran the ball in to the end zone on the next play for the Wildcats’ first touchdown of the season.  Nelson was stopped for no gain on the two point attempt and the Wildcats trailed 16-6 midway through the third quarter.

With Uncle Mo now on their side, the Wildcats seemed to smell blood.  They forced the Tigers into their second straight three and out.  This time, the Tigers did not try a fake punt.  But the punt, into the wind, traveled just 26 yards and the Wildcats again had great field position, starting the ensuing drive from the St. Cloud Tech 47.  On third and one from the 38, Hickcox hit wide receiver Carter Duncan with a pass to the left at the 33.  Duncan made a nice cut and raced down the numbers all the way to the 11 yard line before being tackled.  On third and 10, Hickcox led the option to the left.  He faked the pitch and headed up field near the sideline.  He stiff armed a player at the five and waltzed into the end zone standing up.  Thompson booted the extra point and the Wildcats now trailed by just a field goal, 16-13, with just eight seconds left in the third quarter.

But then the lightning flashed, forcing a suspension of play.  Lightning continued to flash intermittently and it was an hour and 45 minutes before play was allowed to resume.  

The defense again came up big, holding the Tigers to one yard on the next drive.  Nelson returned a 50 yard punt eleven yards and the Wildcats were in business at their own 41 with eleven minutes to go in the game.  The Wildcats proceeded to just pound the ball at the Tigers, with Hickcox, Nelson, Gadbois and Corbin Lee sharing the running duties, and ate up over six minutes of clock in the process.  On third and three from the Tiger 13, Hickcox swept to the right with Nelson trailing.  Hickcox held the ball till the last second and pitched it to Nelson at the 15.  Nelson broke a tackle at the ten and ran untouched into the end zone for a touchdown.  Thompson, fighting the wind, missed the extra point, but the Wildcats now led 19-16 with 4:54 left in the game.

A squib kickoff by the Wildcats didn’t go very far and St. Cloud Tech took over on their own 43 yard line.  After one first down, the Tigers were in a bind. On fourth down, Backes dropped back to pass and had to scramble.  A Wildcat had him in the grasp, but he managed to get off a nice pass deep down the middle of the field.  The Tiger receiver was wide open five yards beyond the nearest Wildcat defensive back, but he fell down untouched at the 15 and the ball fell incomplete.

The Wildcats took over at their own 44 and continued to run the ball at the Tigers, gaining one first down and eating clock.  With 1:48 remaining and the Tigers out of timeouts, Hickcox picked up ten yards on second and 13.  A first down would seal the win.  On third and three from the Tiger 37, Hickcox handed off to Nelson deep in the backfield.  Nelson fumbled, but had the presence of mind just to fall on the ball so the Wildcats would retain possession.   After a delay penalty, Wood punted from the St. Cloud Tech 47 with 16.8 seconds left in the game.  The Tigers fielded the ball at the 28 and tried a series of laterals on the runback, but Carter Duncan eventually made a tackle at the Tiger 23 with 7.3 seconds remaining.  A couple of desperation heaves by St. Cloud Tech fell incomplete to seal the Wildcat victory.  

“Field position and wind were the deciding factors in this one,” said Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss.

“We kicked into the wind in the first quarter and that gave them an advantage right from the start.

The play that seemed to turn things around for the Wildcats was the Tigers’ second fake punt, midway through the third quarter.  “It worked the first time,” said Weiss.  “But the second time we shut ‘em down.  Any time you stop a fake punt it’s a big momentum changer.  We took over at the 33 and went in to score.  So after a big play by the special teams and a scoring drive by the offense, the defense went back out and forced another three and out and a punt into the wind.”

Weiss wasn’t sure how the weather delay would affect his team.  He said “It’s an unknown how a long play stoppage will affect momentum.  We didn’t do anything special.  It allowed our guys to rest.  We went back out and picked up where we left off, stopping them on defense and eating up a lot of clock before scoring on offense.

Weiss talked about some of the players who contributed to the big win.  He said “Aron Johnson played a new position, center and played very well in his first game there.  Gabe Taylor played well in his first game at middle linebacker.  Drake Gadbois had a good game both offensively and defensively.  Dylan Wood did a great job chasing the quarterback around and getting in his face.  That was huge.  Vaughn Strenke was matched up against their big wide receiver and defended him well and Anders Brown also did a great job in pass coverage.”

When Weiss switched quarterbacks midway through the third quarter, the transition went very smoothly.  “Both Bryce and Ethan are total team players,” said Weiss.  “When we made the move at quarterback, there was no ego from either of them.  We made the change just to try to get a spark going on offense.  We have confidence in both of them.  Both of them played well at cornerback, too and after the switch Bryce went out and made some key plays for us on defense.”

Wildcat Notes
The Wildcats (1-0) face a tall task tomorrow night as they head Elk River for a 7 p.m. game.  The Elks crushed Brainerd 51-28 last week.  Weiss isn’t quite sure what to expect.  He said “This is a new opponent for us.  They have a good basic game on offense with some deception built in, so we need to be disciplined and play assignment football.  They have a lot of starters returning, so this will be a good challenge for us.  It should be a good game.”

---