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Most football fans know that turnovers can have a huge effect on the outcome of a game.  Last Friday night’s game against Duluth East was Exhibit A for Wildcat fans.

With the help of five first half Duluth East turnovers, the Wildcats built a 34-0 lead midway through the third quarter and appeared headed to a blowout win.  But the Greyhounds took advantage of three Wildcat turnovers in the second half to cut the Wildcat lead to 34-27 with three minutes to go.  After a failed short kick attempt by the Greyhounds, the Wildcat offense got two first downs to run out the clock and hung on for the win in front of the home fans at Chisago Lakes High School.

 Peter Vitalis returned the game’s opening kickoff 45 yards for the Wildcats and the Greyhounds were penalized five yards for encroachment, so the Wildcats had the ball first and ten from the Duluth East 40.  On the first play from scrimmage, fullback Cole Glenna took the handoff, burst through the middle and out-ran the Greyhound defense all the way to the end zone.  Alex Morehead kicked the extra point and the Wildcats led 7-0 just 19 seconds into the game.

After the ensuing kickoff, Duluth East moved the ball quickly down the field.  On fourth and four from the Wildcat 17 yard line, Greyhound quarterback Jack Rashid dropped back to pass and lofted a ball toward the back left corner of the end zone.  The ball sailed over the receiver and Arran Hickcox picked it off for the first turnover of the game.  On the Wildcats’ first play from their own 20, quarterback Mitch Barrett lofted a beautiful spiral down the left sideline.  Hickcox caught the ball at the Greyhound 45 and was immediately blasted by a Greyhound defensive back.  But he hung onto the ball as he fell out of bounds.  Nine plays later, on fourth and one from the six, Barrett kept the ball and fought for two yards up the middle and a Wildcat first down.  On the next play, Barrett kept the ball and strolled through a huge hole on the right side of the line for a touchdown.  The Wildcats led 14-0 with just under three minutes left in the first quarter.

After both teams went three and out and exchanged punts, the Greyhounds managed one first down and had the ball first and ten on their own 34.  Rashid rolled left and fired a deep ball down the middle.  It looked like it would be a completed pass for a 30 yard gain, but a fast closing Vitalis leaped in front of the receiver and intercepted the ball, giving the Wildcats a first down at their own 35 yard line.  On the next play, Barrett again hit Hickcox with a long pass down the left sideline.  He caught it at the Greyhound 45 and only an ankle tackle saved a touchdown.  But the Wildcat drive stalled right there and Duluth East took over on downs.  Four plays later, Rashid completed a short pass to Josh Daniels-Hanbury on the right and Daniels-Hanbury took off down the field.  As he was making the tackle, Terrell Ayers stripped the ball loose and Dalton Wood recovered it at the Wildcat 42.  After an 11 yard gain by Cole Hemme on second down, Glenna headed up the middle, broke and ankle tackle and was chased down at the 11 yard line.  Two plays later, he went up the middle through a huge hole and into the end zone.  The Wildcats now led 21-0 with 4:19 left in the first half.
On the very next play from scrimmage, Rashid dropped back from his own 25 yard line.  He zipped a pass toward the right sideline.  Anders Brown timed it perfectly, stepped in front of the receiver and intercepted the ball in stride, headed for the end zone.  Despite a couple of nifty moves, he was pushed out at the seven yard line.  Three plays later, Corbin Lee took it into the end zone from the one and the Wildcats led 27-0 with just under three minutes left in the half.  The Greyhounds then moved the ball well and faced second and eight from the Wildcat 31 with a minute left in the half.  The strong-armed Rashid threw a pass into the middle of the end zone.  Hickcox leaped over everyone to pick it off and the Wildcats led 27-0 going into halftime.

After forcing the Greyhounds into three and out on the opening drive of the second half, the Wildcats went on a ten play drive, with Glenna running the ball five times for 21 yards.  On second and five from the six, Barrett dropped back and threw the ball down the middle to the back of the end zone.  Mason Hill dove and made the catch look easy as it settled into his soft hands for a touchdown.  The Wildcats now led 34-0 and it looked like the game was effectively over.  But the Greyhounds thought otherwise.

They scored on the next drive and trailed 34-7.    After forcing the Wildcats into a three and out, they had the ball deep in their own territory.  On second a 6 from the 22, Rashid completed a pass to Daniels-Hanbury down the right side.  But after a long run downfield, he was stripped of the ball by Hickcox and Vitalis jumped on it at the Wildcat 36.  Three plays later, from the Greyhound 44, Barrett threw a pass over the middle that was picked off by Evan Anderson.  Anderson cut right and headed down the sideline.  It looked like he was going to score, but Hemme chased him down and knocked him out of bounds at the 12.  But the Greyhounds scored three plays later and, after Aron Johnson blocked the extra point, trailed 34-13 with 10:13 left in the game.

The Greyhounds tried an onside kick, but the Wildcats recovered.  They fumbled four plays later and the Greyhounds moved down the field and scored with 7:15 left in the game to cut the Wildcat lead to 34-20.  After another failed onside kick and great field position for the Wildcats, they drove deep into Duluth East territory.  But on first and 10 from the 22, as it looked like the Wildcats were poised to score and put the game away, there was a fumble on the snap and the Greyhounds recovered at the 23 with 5:19 remaining.  They went on a 12 play drive that took relatively little time off the clock because it was mostly passing.  On second and four from the Wildcat 18, Rashid sent a short pass to the left.  Daniels-Hanbury caught it, made a nice juke at the 12 and strolled into the end zone.  After the extra point, Duluth East trailed by just a touchdown – 34-27 – with three minutes left in the game.

After a short kickoff, the Wildcats took over at their own 27.  Duluth East had all three of its timeouts remaining.  But the Wildcat offense did two things right – they hung on to the ball and moved it enough to get a couple of first downs, led by – you guessed it – raging bull Cole Glenna.  He carried the ball five times for 21 yards as the Wildcats ran out the clock to hang on for the win.
Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss was relieved after the win.  He said “It ended up a lot closer than we expected.  We still had control of the game of the game at the end, but when we have a big lead in the fourth quarter we just need to finish a game like that.  Cole is really emerging as a good fullback.  Before the season started, we knew he was going to be an impact player somewhere on the field.  But we weren’t sure where his home might be – linebacker, defensive end, halfback, fullback?  He has emerged as a pretty good fullback.  And as for Mitch, I though he did a nice job for his first extended varisty action at quarterback.  He made some good decisions and the offense moved the ball well.  He’s a smart quarterback.”

Weiss was pleased with the play of the Wildcat defensive backs and the lines.  “Our defensive backs are pretty solid, period,” he said.  “We have two good corners in Anders and Arran.  They are both good athletes who put themselves in position to make plays.  Arran had the play where he ran down the receiver and punched the ball loose.  They are pretty intense.  And Peter and Terrell, as safeties, are more often seen on run support.  Both guys also did a nice job on coverage in this game and Peter had a nice interception.  Our line play was pretty solid on both sides of the ball.  Our defensive line shut down the interior run for the most part.”

As for the resiliency of the opponent, Weiss said “You’ve got to give Duluth East credit.  There was no quit in them.  We had them down by 34 points in the second half and they took advantage of mistakes on our part and came back.  We have got to be able to finish.  We can’t underestimate any opponent at any time during a game.  We knew going in they had some playmakers a and we needed to limit the number of times they had the ball.  They ended up with enough possessions to make it close.”

Glenna led all runners with 17 carries for 141 yards and two touchdowns.  Tharold Kimball led the Greyhounds with 9 carries for 78 yards.  For passing, Rashid was 20 for 34 for 255 yards and three touchdowns, but he threw those four first half interceptions.  Barrett was five for 12 for 76 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions.  And Daniels-Hanbury led all receivers with 14 catches for 146 yards and a touchdown.

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