The Wildcats continued their winning streak Saturday, October 6th with a dominant victory over the John Burroughs Bombers, 44-13. The Wildcats’ offense was on fire with 286 rushing yards and 134 passing yards. Isiah Warren, Junior, returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, jumpstarting the Wildcats’ offense. Josh Avery, senior running back, scored next for the Cats, punching the ball in on a 72 yard touchdown run.
Shep Nye, senior, and Will Powers, freshman, split snaps at QB, each throwing for a touchdown and combining for 118 passing yards and 28 rushing yards. Cal Leighton, junior, was the leader on the receiving side, with two receptions for 61 yards and two touchdowns. Leighton is a part of an extremely deep receiving corps led by seniors Caden Collison and Devin Coulter.
The Wildcats’ rushing attack was extremely efficient, as senior running backs Josh Avery and Chris Heard combined for 3 touchdowns. Avery had 184 yards on eight carries and a touchdown, while Heard had 59 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns. Although quick downhill running was a large part of the rushing success for The Wildcats, the offensive line was also dominant, opening up massive holes for both backs.
The defense played similarly well, holding the Bombers’ offense to one touchdown. Carter Foote, Bombers junior wide receiver, scored two touchdowns on the day, one receiving, and one on special teams, when he took a kickoff return 98 yards to the house. Aside from a few explosive plays, the secondary played extremely well, sticking to the Burroughs receivers like glue. The defensive front applied lots of pressure to Bomber QB Max Steinbach. Steinbach, junior, only completed 7 passes on 18 attempts and coughed up the ball once when Josh Avery, playing as a linebacker, got into the backfield and stripped the ball. Mike Decker, Defensive Lineman coach, explained: “We have been developing as a team through the summer [and] throughout the season. We’ve faced some really stiff competition and I think the fire starts to refine a team.”
With this win the Wildcats moved to a 3-4 record. They also jumped over Burroughs in the district rankings, moving to 3rd place. Orchard Farm and St. Charles West are both barely ahead of the Cats in a wide open division. The Cats have a good chance to win the division, and the team has their sights set on a division title. “We just proved to ourselves today that it’s possible to go all the way through districts and win every single game,” explained Avery.
The Wildcats have extremely high spirits after their third win in a row. Their next game is October 13th against the Duchesne Pioneers.
