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WCA Football Holds Onto A Nail Biter vs St. Mary’s

The Wildcats clawed out a win in their first game of the season vs St. Mary’s 49-47

The Wildcat offense was not present in the 1st quarter, as the Dragons tacked on ten via a 27 yard field goal and a 39 yard pass.

Shortly after the start of the 2nd quarter, the Dragons added another field goal. Soon after, the Cats finally climbed out of their rut with an 18 yard TD from Chad Briden to Dyllan Conway. They quickly scored another on a 5 yard rush from Steve Webb. St. Mary’s would retaliate with a 1 yard rush into the end zone, but the Cats would have the half’s final blow with a pick 6 by Conway in the closing moments of the first half to make it 21-20 Cats.

The Wildcats stormed the field with a sense of urgency to start the 3rd quarter. They started fast, scoring on a 10 yard pass from Briden to Grant LaValle. The Dragons then scored there own, this time on the ground. Steve Webb would not be outshone, as he plowed through the Dragon’s defense, scoring on  4 and 43 yard runs to put some distance between the teams on the score board. The Dragons would inch closer at the end of the 3rd quarter, scoring on a 24 yard pass. 42-34 Cats.

The Dragons would claw back in the 4th, scoring on a 17 yard pass.  To keep the game alive, they decided to go for the 2 point conversion, but were batted down by the Cats’ corner. Westminster kept pouring on points, scoring on a 54 yard bomb from Briden to LaValle. The Dragons would dangle onto hope with a late touchdown. With the ball in the Wildcats’ hands, and the clock ticking down, the average bystander would cry out, “Just run the ball and let time expire!” Au contraire! The team decided to pass for another touchdown, but were stopped, giving the Dragons 46 seconds of hope. They stormed down the field, and when all hope seemed lost for the Wildcats, a star shined among the darkness, as Webb picked off the quarterback as the game ended. The team stormed the field and had finally slayed the dragon. When asked about what was going on through Webb’s head, he answered,”All I was [thinking] was don’t drop it… I was just trying to make a play.”

This was both Coach Pederson’s first game and first win as the football team’s head coach. When told of the milestone, he stated that “It feels very humbling, and this group of guys has worked so hard. In recapping the game, he said, “We mentally and physically responded when we needed to, but we have a lot of stuff that we need to clean up… we need to work better on defense, getting off blocks, making good tackles and wrapping up. Offensively we need to secure the ball, and run our routes. We have plenty to work on.”

The Wildcats will square off versus St. Dominic at home next Saturday. St. Dominic is coming off of an upset versus a very strong John Burroughs team.