The air was cold; the fans were ready, and the game began.

To start the game off, the U.S. Color guard presented the flag as our own Annabelle McClelland sang our national anthem. The first drives by both teams were stopped; it’s safe to say both sides started with a strong defense. Mason Dean ran a 60-yard punt return to score, but a flag on the play brought us back to the Bulldog 33 yard line. 

Fortunately, our QB Jayce Knapp threw a 33-yard dime to Payton Dart to start us off 6-0. Following that play, our kicker Jacob Hausserman nailed a perfect field goal to bring our cats to a 7-0 lead early on. Our cats weren’t done though; on the Bulldogs following rush Mason Dean intercepted a 30-yard pass intended for Coleman Compton from Bulldog QB Ian Spalding. However, the Bulldogs did not give up. Bulldogs QB/LB Ian Spalding intercepted a 30-yard pass intended for Payton Dart.

You could call that redemption for the interception Spalding threw just two plays earlier, but not all good things last, because that next play Mason Dean picked off Spalding throw for a Wildcat possession.  That the first fatal blow of the night for the Bulldogs. The spark was still there, though. A few plays later, Bulldogs Divenson Willis ran a 40-yard hand-off in for their first touchdown of the night, and the fire was re-ignited for the Bulldogs. Both teams sat at 7-7 to end the half.

Mason Dean started off the 3rd quarter with a 65-yard pick-six. With a 14-7 lead, we began to pull ahead. With our defense and offense continuing strong, we shut the Bulldogs down till the end of the fourth quarter. The Wildcats scored an additional few touchdowns making, along with a last-ditch effort from the Bulldogs. The final score was 34 to 14.

The Wildcats will play at Thurston on November 15th in the OSAA 5A quarterfinals playoffs. The time will be posted at this link: http://www.osaa.org/teams/29990

Go Cats!