In what will be the final home game of the 2019 football season, the Wildcats came from behind to pick up their third win of the season. A dominant second half and some record-breaking performances were able to give the team a pivotal win to add to their resume for district seeding.
To start off the game, the Christian High Eagles marched down the field scoring a touchdown on the opening drive. As the first quarter came to a close, sophomore LJ Minner tied the game up with a rushing touchdown.
Later on, the Wildcats were forced to punt and gave the Eagles the ball around midfield with 2:42 left in the first half. The Eagles took hold of the opportunity ahead of them and entered the end zone again. The kicking unit came on to get the extra point, but the kick was blocked by senior Ben Chereji, keeping the score at 13-7 heading into halftime.
There have been whispers of a halftime speech delivered by Coach Herring that sparked new life in the team. He gave the wakeup call the Wildcats were in need of as they came out of the locker room for the second half.
Minner entered the end zone twice on the opening drive coming out of half time, once for a touchdown, and another time for the two-point conversion. The Wildcats took their first lead of the game at 15-13 and would not look back. The defense played strong, forcing incompletions and tackles for losses while the offense kept churning. Minner broke off another long run on fourth down before getting his third touchdown of the game, pushing the score to 22-13. Fellow sophomore Nolan Jones ran for another touchdown in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. Senior Ben Straub sealed the deal with an interception in the corner of the end zone.
The two standouts that helped the Wildcats take the win were Aiden Davitt and LJ Minner. Davitt set a school record for most sacks in one game with four, adding to the eight total, which was also a team record. He was in the Eagle quarterback’s grill all day long and contributed on offense by making a few catches at tight end. Minner had his biggest day to this point with three touchdowns and over 200 yards of rushing.
It was the final game the Seniors will ever play at 800 Maryville Centre Drive, and it was a good one to send them off with. Next week, the team plays under the lights again at St. Charles West in the final regular season game of the year.