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Wildcats fall to Kearney

Westminster’s historic run came to an end on Saturday with a 35-16 loss at the hands of the Kearney Bulldogs.
Cold, windy weather worked in favor a both defenses in the first half, as neither offense was able to get anything sustainable going. The Westminster defense did not allow a first down in the first quarter, and the Kearney defense was equally impressive, shutting down the Wildcat’s star running back Steve Webb.
Westminster got on the board first on a 25 yard field by Freshman Andrew Kempen, set up by a deep connection from Evan Johnson to Casey Hinds. It was a big hold for the Kearney defense, who stopped the Cats on consecutive plays from their own 5 yard line.

The momentum continued to swing Kearney’s way when the took the lead on a 16 yard run. The drive was set up by a Westminster punt that was knocked down by the wind at the Wildcats 25 yard line. The score remained 7-3 going into halftime.

The Cats received the ball to start the 2nd half, but Johnson and offense never got a chance as Kearney recovered the kick on a bizarre play. The Kearney kicker appeared to send the ball deep, but it was caught in a gust of wind and fell next to an unsuspecting up-man. The Bulldogs took advantage of the confusion and recovered the ball around the Wildcat 30. They punched it in two plays later on a 29 yard run by Cale Garret.

Westminster appeared to have an opportunity to get back in the game when Connor Hafenrichter recovered a fumble forced by Tom Graham at midfield. However, a botched trick play gave the ball back to Kearney, who returned it to the Wildcat 11. They scored three plays later on an 11 yard toss by quarterback Logan Hink, expanding the Kearney lead to 21-3.

The Wildcats would put up a valiant fight in the 4th, scoring on a 25 yard pass from Johnson to Hinds. Johnson would later find Hinds again on a 2 yard screen pass. However, the Wildcat defense could not slow down the Kearney attack, who added two more scores to seal a 35-16 win.