October 15, 2015 at 1:34 p.m.
Wildcats can't overcome Rogers, but win first round of sections
Wildcats can't overcome Rogers, but win first round of sections
Playing Rogers Thursday, Oct 8 railing 17-14 at the half, the Wildcats started from their own 22 to begin the third quarter. On third and five from the 27, running back Trevin Nelson took the handoff, ran through a hole to the left and cut right to some open spaces. An ankle tackle after 18 yards stopped an even bigger gain, but the Wildcats now had a first down. A nine yard run by Drake Gadbois and a personal foul penalty on the Royals gave the Wildcats a first down at the Royal 35. On second and ten, Corbin Nelson took a pitch right and nearly broke it, but was tripped up after a gain of six. One play later, the Wildcats faced fourth and two from the 27. The handoff went up the middle to Gadbois. The hole closed quickly and he was stopped right near the first down marker. Was it enough for the first down? The referees brought out the chain. The measurement showed the Wildcats were six inches short, turning the ball over to Rogers on downs.
While there were several other plays that had an effect on the outcome of the game, that stop on fourth down meant a productive Wildcat drive came away with no points. If the Wildcats had converted that fourth down and gone in to score and take the lead, they may have had momentum that might have completely changed the outcome.
When the Royals took the game’s opening kickoff and drove 70 yards in four plays to go up 7-0, it looked like it might be a long night for the Wildcats and the sparse contingent of 75 fans that followed them to Rogers. But the Wildcats responded with an eight play scoring drive of their own. On first and ten from the Wildcat 38, the Wildcats ran an option to the left. Quarterback Ethan Hickcox held onto the ball until the last defender committed to him and pitched it to Nelson. Nelson ran down the sideline and was knocked out of bounds at the Rogers 32 by Rogers defensive back Matt Mabin, who had come from the other side of the field to make the play. On fourth and one from the 23, Hickcox kept the ball, went left and cut upfield. As he was being hauled down at the 11, he made an ill advised pitch attempt to Nelson, who was parallel to Hicks about 10 yards to the left. The pitch attempt bounced and Nelson went down on one knee to retrieve it, killing the play with the Wildcats still in possession. On second and eight from the nine, Hickcox kept the ball and ran through a big hole into the end zone untouched. Bryce Thompson’s extra point tied the game at 7-7 with 6:51 left in the first quarter.
The Wildcats were back in business.
Starting from their own 20, Rogers went on an 11 play drive. On fourth and two from the Wildcat 19, Royals’ quarterback Tanner Palm was stuffed by Wildcats linebacker Kyle Schoenecker for no gain, turning the ball over to the Wildcats with just over two minutes left in the first quarter. Led by running back Corbin Lee, the Wildcats proceeded to pound the ball moving 35 yards in eight plays. On first and 10 from the Royal 46, Hickcox dropped back and threw a ball deep down the center of the field. The ball hung in the air and by the time it came down there were five Rogers defensive backs and one Wildcat receiver waiting. Mabin intercepted the ball for the Royals at the 17 and returned it to the Rogers 38 yard line. On the next play, Royals’ running back Blayne Kasper took the handoff and cut right. He shook up a couple of Wildcat tacklers and was off to the races. The Wildcats tackled him at the three yard line after a 59 yard gain. Kaleb Anderson scored on the next play and the Royals led 14-7 just two minutes into the second quarter.
On the ensuing possession, the Wildcats went on their longest drive of the season: a 15 play drive, all runs, which took eight and a half minutes. Rogers hurt itself with another personal foul on the drive. Hickcox fumbled twice on the drive. But he recovered one and Ryan Stenson fell on the other. On fourth and two from the Royal 34, Gadbois plowed up the middle for three yards and a first down to keep the drive alive. On fourth and one from the 10, Hickcox kept the ball and went up the middle for four yards to give the Wildcats first and goal from the six. On second and goal from the seven, Trevin Nelson took a pitch left and cut upfield at the five. He was grabbed at the two, but dove across the goal line for a touchdown, tying the game at 14-14 with 1:37 left in the first half.
The Royals fumbled on the first play from scrimmage on the ensuing drive, but recovered. The Royals quickly moved the ball downfield, using their timeouts to stretch out the half. On first down from the Wildcat 32 with 16 seconds left, Palm took a shot at the left front corner of the end zone, but the ball ended up just out of the reach of the diving receiver. But the Wildcats were called for roughing the passer on the play and the 15 yard penalty moved the ball to the 17. After another incomplete pass and a false start penalty on Rogers, 7.2 seconds remained in the half. The Royals lined up for a field goal and started to run a fake, but they were again called for a false start, moving the ball back to the 27 with 7.2 seconds still remaining. They lined up for another field goal attempt and Matt Becker drilled a 43 yarder through the uprights to give the Royals a 17-14 lead at the half.
After the Wildcats were stopped on fourth down in Rogers territory on the first drive of the second half, the Royals got a couple of first downs. The Wildcat defense stiffened and forced the Royals to punt from near midfield. But the Royals forced the Wildcats into a three and out and a short punt into the wind gave the Royals a first down at their own 42 yard line with less than a minute to go in the third quarter.
The Royals quickly moved the ball into Wildcat territory, but the Wildcats defense held firm. On fourth and six from the Wildcat 37, backup quarterback Drew Sagehorn dropped back and threw a touchdown pass and the Royals led 24-14 with 10:38 left in the fourth quarter.
Rogers squibbed the ensuing kickoff and the Wildcats recovered in great field position, at their own 43 yard line. On fourth and nine from the 43, they lined up to punt. But they faked it and punter Dylan Wood threw a pass over the middle to Carter Duncan about 12 yards downfield. The pass was on target, but a Rogers defensive back leaped up and tipped it out of the way just before it got to Duncan and the Royals took over on downs. The Royals had trouble moving the ball, as well, and went for it on fourth and six from the 39. Sagehorn handed the ball to Kasper, who was tackled by Thompson, two yards short of a first down. The Wildcats had the ball back with just under eight minutes left in the game.
After an incomplete pass and two runs by Gadbois, the Wildcats went for it on fourth and one from their own 44. But Hickcox fumbled the snap and Rogers fell on it immediately to take over at the Wildcat 42. Kasper ran through and past most of the Wildcat defense on the next play and only a touchdown saving tackle at the four by Anders Brown kept him out of the end zone. On the next play, Travis Limoseth carried the ball into the end zone and, after the extra point, led 31-14 with 5:45 left in the game. The Wildcats moved the ball well on the ensuing drive but ate up most of the clock doing it. A potential touchdown pass from Hickcox was dropped in the end zone with under two minutes to go in the game and the Royals ran out the clock to complete the 31-14 victory.
Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss said “Right out of the gate, we didn’t get off to a good start. But our offense answered and gave our defense a chance to collect themselves. After that, they played pretty solid the rest of the half. We had built up a little momentum at the beginning of the third quarter. It would have been a great time to take command of the game, but we weren’t able to convert on fourth down deep in their territory. Those are just critical plays you have to make if you want to beat a team as good as Rogers.”
Chisago Lakes 49, Cambridge-Isanti 28
Three Wildcats – Trevin Nelson, Matt Mohr and Drake Gadbois – rushed for over 100 yards each to lead the fourth-seeded Wildcats to a 49-28 win over the fifth-seeded Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets in the section 7AAAAA quarterfinals Tuesday, October 13 at Chisago Lakes High School.
The Wildcats outrushed the Bluejackets 464 to 171, but Wildcat turnovers and some long passes by the Bluejackets kept the final outcome in doubt until late in the fourth quarter.
The win sends the Wildcats (6-3) to a semifinal matchup on the road at St. Francis to take on the top-seeded Fighting Saints (6-2) Saturday, October 17 at 2 p.m.
The Wildcats led 42-28 with seven minutes left in the game and were on the brink of scoring a touchdown that would likely clinch the victory. On third and nine from the Bluejacket ten, Gadbois took a handoff and started off tackle to the left. The Bluejackets stripped the ball from Gadbois and one of the defensive backs picked up the ball and took off. It looked like he would go all the way, but the speedy Mohr caught up with him and hauled him down at the Cambridge 46 to prevent the touchdown. On the next play, a pass from Bluejacket quarterback Austin Schlenker to wide receiver Joe Conrad moved the ball all the way to the Wildcat 16. Four plays later, the Bluejackets faced second and goal from the six yard line with 4:50 left. Schlenker took the snap and started left. The Wildcats penetrated and stripped the ball from Schlenker. Wildcat sophomore Terrell Ayers recovered it at the 10 yard line to end the Cambridge drive. The Wildcats went 90 yards in seven plays against a dispirited Bluejacket defense. Gadbois scored standing up on a seven yard run with 1:30 left in the game to put the icing on a sloppy but entertaining win.
In his best game of the season, Nelson rushed for 119 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns and also caught a touchdown pass. Nelson was quick to share the credit. He said, “My adrenaline was going tonight and my offensive line, they were making holes for me.”
Gadbois carried the ball 13 times for 124 yards and a touchdown.
Mohr had 130 yards on eight carries. His electrifying 71 yard touchdown put the Wildcats up 14-7 late in the first quarter.
Hickcox had 78 yards and did a great job running the offense for the Wildcats.
Section Notes
The Wildcats face a tall task against St. Francis on Saturday. The Fighting Saints team, which received a bye in the first round, is ranked 11th in the state in Class AAAAA and played a tough schedule. But if the Wildcats can avoid the turnover bug, they have a decent chance to upset the Saints.
Comments:
Commenting has been disabled for this item.