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The Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season last Friday night, falling to the Providence Academy Lions 28-18 at Providence Academy in Plymouth.  The Lions scored early, and the Wildcats never led in this one.

After the Wildcats went three and out on the game’s opening drive and were forced to punt, the Lions took over on their own 47.  They went on an eight-play drive capped off by an 11-yard touchdown pass from Magnus Hansen to Joe Berghult, and the Lions led 7-0.  The highlight play of the game came on the Wildcats’ ensuing drive.  On third and four from their own 36, Carson Langevin took a pitch to the left.  The blocking by the offensive line allowed him to easily get around the end.  He cut inside a block by Brayden Anderson about 15 yards downfield and headed for the right sideline, off to the races.  He was nearly caught at the ten but slipped a tackle attempt and ran into the end zone for a touchdown.  The extra point attempt doinked off the left upright and the Wildcats trailed 7-6 with just under seven minutes left in the first quarter.

The Lions responded with an 11-play drive, capped off by a 19-yard touchdown run by Hansen, and the Lions led 14-6 with 2:11 left in the first quarter.  On the Wildcats’ next drive, they had the ball first and ten at their own 40.  Meissner dropped back to pass, but the line collapsed.  He was hit by a rusher up the middle and fumbled.  The Lions recovered at the 35, and the game looked like it might get out of reach quickly.  But the Wildcat defense stepped up, with good coverage forcing an incomplete pass on fourth down.  The Wildcats took over on their own 23.  They went on a 13-play, 77-yard drive – all runs – that ate up over eight minutes.  On second and seven from the 11, Jadon Greene took a pitch around right end and, with great blocking, ran untouched into the end zone.  Langevin took the ball up the middle on the two-point conversion attempt, but was stuffed, and the Wildcats trailed 14-12 with just under three minutes to go in the half.

The Lions went on a ten-play drive that featured a lot of passing and needed just two minutes to get into the end zone.  They scored on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Hansen to Billy Trubeck, and the Wildcats trailed 21-12 going into the half.

It looked like Providence Academy was going to put the game out of reach early in the second half.  A short drive, highlighted by a 36-yard completion gave them first and goal at the ten.  But on first down, Hansen’s pass over the middle was picked off by Greene just inside the goal line, stopping the drive.  The teams exchanged punts, and after another Wildcat punt, the Lions started at their own 44.  Pass completions of 32 and 20 yards quickly moved the ball to the Wildcat 5.  Peyton Bartz took it over from the 5, and the Lions led 28-12 early in the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats then went on another one of their patented drives, a 13-play drive that ate up most of the fourth quarter.  Unfortunately, they needed to score twice.  On first and goal from the seven, Meissner rolled right.  Langevin slipped out the backfield and Meissner dropped it to him over a couple of defenders.  Langevin stepped into the end zone.  The Wildcats trailed 28-18.  They needed to get the two-pointer to cut the lead to eight to have any chance of winning with little time left on the clock.  Meissner pitched right to Greene, but he was stopped in the backfield.  The Lions recovered the Wildcats’ onside kick attempt and ran out the clock to seal the win.

Langevin carried the ball 11 times for 111 yards and a touchdown to lead the Wildcats.  The Wildcats gained just 237 yards on the ground as a team, well under their season average.  Bartz led the Lions in rushing, with 110 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

“Providence Academy is a big, physical team,” said Wildcat head coach Ryan Anderson.  “I think they will do some nice things this year.  And when you’re playing a good team like that, your margin of error shrinks and mistakes are magnified.  In the first half, our offense moved the ball well, but the defense had trouble stopping the Lions.  In the second half, the offense had trouble sustaining drives until late in the game, but the defense did a good job getting the ball back for the offense.  And we made some mistakes on special teams that were amplified.  Playing good, complementary football is always one of our goals, and we didn’t do that in this game.”

Anderson talked about some players that stood out in this one.  He said “Carson Langevin had a nice game out of the backfield, including that 64-yard run for a touchdown.  And even though Jadon Greene didn’t run the ball as much, he had a nice run for a touchdown.  And he did a good job on defense when we had to put him in at free safety due to injuries, intercepting a pass in the end zone to stop a scoring drive and keeping us in the game.  

Emmett Hahn had a nice game for us on defense.  He was able to match up with the Lions physically and made the plays that came to him, with eight solo tackles.”

What will the Wildcats do to get back on the winning track?  Anderson said “It’s just a matter of doing what we preach all the time.  

Focus on the process to get better and be able to handle adversity.  Don’t focus on what you want to do.  Focus on what you need to do to be successful.  We are a good football team.  We didn’t play poorly, and we need to shore up our mistakes and just keep improving.”

Football Notes

The Wildcats (2-1) will take on the Big Lake Hornets (1-2) tomorrow night at 6 p.m. (note the early start) at Chisago Lakes High School.  “They have some talent,” said Anderson.  They are not the biggest team, but they like to spread the ball around and they have some skilled athletes we will have to contain.  Ultimately, our tackling will be key because that’s what hurt us last year against them.  We need to limit yards after catch and yards after contact.”

The Wildcats lost Cole Stilp and Riley Estes due to finger injuries against Providence Academy.  Estes will likely be back this week, but Stilp may have to miss a couple of weeks.

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