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If you went to last Friday night’s Wildcat homecoming game expecting to see fireworks, you got triple your money’s worth.  There were the fireworks you expected after the game – in fact, double the fireworks, since last year’s fireworks were rained out and were added to this year’ fireworks.  But the fireworks from the Wildcat offense were even more impressive.  On a beautiful early fall night, the standing room only crowd of over 2,000 watched the Wildcats roll up over 400 yards of offense and score on almost every possession, as they crushed the Big Lake Hornets 49-14.

After a one-game hiatus due to a misunderstanding, the cannon was back, and boomed seven times into the night sky as the Wildcats kept scoring.  They rolled up 291 yards on the ground, led by fullback Braxton Bender-Ehlke, who had sixteen carries for 105 yards and two touchdowns.  They used the passing game effectively.  Quarterback Kellen Meissner went five for eight for 123 yards and a touchdown.  And running back Carson Langevin was a dual threat.  He had 134 yards of total offense – 68 on the ground and 66 through the air, on just two receptions. Wildcat head coach Ryan Anderson said “Carson is a kid that’s fun to watch.  He had one carry tonight where it looked like he was going to get tackled for a three-yard gain.  But he put his arm down, three-legged it and the next thing you know he’s ripping off a bunch more yards.  When he gets the ball, it’s always a fun thing to watch.”

The defense was on top of its game, as well.  They held Big Lake to 208 total yards and harassed Big Lake quarterback Carson Gellerman all night, sacking him four times.  Linebacker Michael Houle led the way with eight tackles and three assists.  Marcello Cardoni wasn’t far behind, with six tackles, an assist, and a sack.  Riley Estes, Connor Frederixon and Chuck Gilman were the other members of the sack brigade.

The defense stepped up big on the opening drive of the game, stuffing the Big Lake running back at midfield on fourth and two to give the offense a short field to work with.  Jadon Greene took a pitch right, raced around the corner and was knocked out of bounds after a 30-yard gain, the longest Wildcat run of the night.  Not a bad way to start the game on offense.  Five plays later, Meissner plowed his way up the middle for a touchdown from the one.  After Brycen Morley made the extra point – he was a perfect seven-for-seven on the day – the Wildcats led 7-0 with 6:25 left in the first quarter.  After a three-and-out by the Hornets, the Wildcat took over near midfield again after a short punt.  Six plays later, Greene took a handoff up the middle, zigged and zagged his way around several defenders and coasted into the end zone to make it 14-0, with over two-and-a-half minutes left in the first quarter.  Morley shanked the ensuing kickoff, and it bounced out of bounds at the Big Lake 34-yard line.  The Hornets seemed momentarily inspired by this bit of luck and went on a 10-play that resulted in a two-yard touchdown run by Reid Josewski.  After a failed two-pointer, the Wildcats led 14-6 a minute into the second quarter.

Wildcat wide receiver Reese Nasvik had two catches in the game, and they were on consecutive plays on the Wildcats’ next drive.  On first down from the Hornet 40, Meissner threw to Nasvik near the left sideline, and Nasvik stepped out of bounds at the 18-yard line for a first down.  On the next play, Meissner delivered the ball to a wide open Nasvik near the right sideline at the ten, and Nasvik waltzed into the end zone to make it 21-6 – just 90 seconds on the clock after Big Lake scored.  The teams exchanged punts – the Wildcats’ only punt of the game.  The Wildcat defense forced another three-and-out, and Big Lake was forced to punt from their own 26.  The punter shanked it, and the ball sailed out of bonds after ten yards with three minutes to go in the first half.  The Wildcats fumbled twice – recovering both - as they tried to move the ball down the field and Big Lake took over on downs at their own 27 with one minute left in the first half.  Two plays later, Gellerman floated a long high pass to the Wildcat 40.  

Unfortunately for the Hornets, there were four Wildcats around the ball and just one Hornet receiver.  Blake Seifert went high to snatch the ball out of the air and returned it ten yards to midfield.  Meissner hit Langevin with a short pass over the middle.  Langevin cut left and ran down the sideline, getting knocked out at the ten with 36.8 seconds left in the half.  Three plays later, from the two-yard line, Greene took a pitch to the right and ran untouched into the end zone with 14.8 seconds left in the half to put the Wildcats up 28-6.  The rout was officially on.

The Wildcats easily moved the ball down the field on the opening drive of the second half thanks to Langevin, with two nice runs and a long pass reception getting the ball down to the Big Lake 22.  A 17-yard pass and run to Greene got the ball down to the five, and Bender-Ehlke took it over from the one a couple of plays later to make it 35-6.  After yet another lousy punt by the Hornets, the Wildcats took over at midfield.  A run by Meissner, a face-masking penalty on the Hornets and a five-yard run by Bender-Ehlke moved the ball to the 15.  Langevin went up the middle on a brilliant run but was hauled down at the half-yard line.  And to show that luck was with the Wildcats in this game, the next snap rolled between Meissner’s legs.  Bender-Ehlke picked it up and plowed his way into the end zone to make it 42-6.  Anderson said “That’s a very heads up play by Braxton, to see the ball in front of him, pick it up and still score.  Sometimes in football, you need some luck on your side because that ball is not round, and you don’t know where it’s going to bounce.”

Big Lake scored on their next possession to cut the Wildcat lead to 42-14.   The Hornets tried an onside kick, but Langevin showed his special teams chops by recovering the ball.  Emmett Hahn had some effective carries on the next Wildcat drive.  On first and goal at the four, Hahn took a pitch to the right and ran over the pylon to make the score 49-14 with 9:17 left in the game.  With the 35-point lead in the fourth quarter, running time was started

Wildcat senior quarterback Joseph Froberg experienced some serious health issues earlier in 2024 which effectively ended his football career.   Anderson and the rest of the Wildcat coaching staff wanted to give Froberg one more appearance on the field this season as a thank you for Froberg’s dedication to the Wildcat football program.  The opportunity presented itself at the end of the game.  Anderson called a timeout with a minute left in the game to get Froberg onto the field.  Froberg actually got to kneel the ball down twice to run out the clock and joined his teammates in the celebration of the thumping they had just given to Big Lake.   

The Wildcats played good complementary football in this game, excelling in all three phases of the game – offense, defense, and special teams.  Anderson said “All week during our preparation we talked about doing your job and trusting that your buddy next to you is going to do his job.  And when we do that, good things are going to happen.  So, it’s a lot of fun to see these guys when they’re getting aligned, doing their job, and not trying to do too much.”

Football Notes

The Wildcats (3-1) will head to Zimmerman tomorrow night to take on the Zimmerman Thunder (2-2) at 7 p.m.  What should the Wildcats expect from Zimmerman?  Anderson said “They’re always a tough team.  They’re well-coached.  Their defense is always pretty solid, and they know how to defend the triple option.  It’s always going to be a good matchup with those guys.” 

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