September 7, 2017 at 3:30 p.m.
Despite massive effort from Trost, CL falls to Becker in shootout
Despite massive effort from Trost, CL falls to Becker in shootout
The Wildcats had 483 yards of total offense, including 432 yards rushing. Quarterback Henry Trost led the way with 240 yards and three touchdowns on just 12 carries. All three of Trost’s touchdowns came on runs of over 50 yards. The Bulldogs totaled 546 yards in a more balanced attack. Quarterback Josh Fobbe completed 18 of 26 passes for 249 yards and four touchdowns. Fobbe also rushed for 47 yards and three touchdowns. Bulldog halfback Sidney Boros rushed 26 times for 205 yards. And Becker scored exactly 14 points in every quarter of the game.
Becker scored a touchdown early in the first quarter to go up 7-0 and the Wildcats answered with a 28-yard field goal by Ryan Mower to cut the lead to 7-3. Becker came right back down the field and was within inches of going up 14-3. As Boros was slowed down at the one yard line, he tried to reach the ball over the goal line. But just before the ball crossed the line, Cole Glenna knocked the ball out of his hands and Terrell Ayers recovered on the six yard line. After a fullback dive by Glenna took the ball out to the 16, Trost electrified the crowd with an 84 yard run for a touchdown. After Mower converted the extra point, the Wildcats led 10-7. “The forced fumble by Cole on the goal line was the key play of the first half,” said Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss. “And when we went the length of the field to score just two-plays later, it gave us a 14-point turnaround in a matter of less than a minute.” Boros scored on a 12-yard run before the end of the first quarter to put the Bulldogs up 14-10.
The points kept piling up in the second quarter. The Wildcats struck first, with Trost again firing up the crowd, this time with a 74-yard run to the end zone to put the Wildcats up 16-14. Becker re-took the lead on an eight yard pass from Fobbe to Lucas Dertinger to give the Bulldogs a 21-16 lead. But the Wildcats quickly drove back downfield and Glenna answered with a six yard touchdown run. After Trost ran for the two point conversion, the Wildcats led 24-21. Before the end of the half, Fobbe hit Bryce Boser with a 28 yard touchdown pass and Becker led 28-24 going into the intermission. The Bulldogs had scored on four of their six first half possessions and the Wildcats had scored on four of their five possessions. At that point, the difference in the game was that the Wildcats had to settle for a field goal on one of their possessions.
The Wildcats got the ball to open the second half. On the second play of the opening drive, Chase Hemme ran for 57 yards and a touchdown to put the Wildcats back on top at 31-28. But the Wildcats had their next two possessions stopped by a punt and a fumble and Fobbe rushed for two more scores to give Becker a 42-31 lead. Trost’s 51 yard run touchdown run near the end of the third quarter cut the Bulldog lead back down to one score at 42-37.
But with just under 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Fobbe hit Boros with a 12-yard touchdown pass to stretch the Becker lead to 49-37. And then came the key play of the game. The Bulldogs tried an onside kick. The ball rolled very slowly and looked like it would stop before it went ten yards. The Bulldogs pounced on it and there was some question as to whether the ball had actually gone ten yards first. But the referees ruled in their favor and the Bulldogs had the ball near midfield. Fobbe went over from two yards out a couple of minutes later and Becker had a 56-37 lead. The Wildcats once again moved the ball quickly down the field, capped off by a two yard touchdown run by Manny Rosario with five and a half minutes to go in the game to cut the Becker lead to 56-44. The Wildcats tried an onside kick of their own, but the Bulldogs recovered it and ran out the clock to seal the win.
Weiss said “Henry had a big night. All of his runs were option reads. He did well executing the offense and he is so fast that when he got into the open field, he was gone. The two quarterbacks were the most important players on the field. Henry, with the option, displayed a lot of athleticism and speed. And Fobbe, their quarterback, was more of a thrower, although he did score one long TD on a scramble. We put a lot of pressure on him, but he was very good under pressure. For the most part, we shut down their interior run. But we gave up way too many big pass plays.
“Another thing that worked against us was field position given up by our special teams. In the second half alone, four of their six possessions started on our side of the 50. Two of those short-field possessions came on big punt returns and one came on a long kickoff return. Obviously, we have to get better at our kick coverage.”
Notes
The Wildcats (0-1) will head to Cambridge to take on the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets (1-0) tomorrow night at 7 p.m. The Bluejackets beat Sartell 28-2 in their season opener last Friday. Weiss said “It will be a physical game. That’s kind of who they’ve always been. We played them in the playoffs two years in a row, so we know what we have in store for us.”
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