Football Recap

The end of Fall’s most popular sport has come to an end with the football team’s 42-17 loss at Rolla. This was a very transitional year for the WCA football team, a new coach with a completely different system led to what could be categorized as a rebuilding year for the WCA football program. The season ended sooner than what the team would have liked, but there are still many positives to be taken from what the 4-6 team did this season.

Unfortunately one of the biggest themes that the team saw this year was injuries. The biggest coming at the running back spot: Atlin Hall. Hall got off to a fast start in 2017 and set himself apart as one of the best players in the area. In just two weeks he racked up over 350 yards and 4 touchdowns. In the week 3 Hall went down with a leg injury that sidelined him for 2 weeks before doctors discovered a heart issue that essentially benched Hall for the rest of the season. Even with his heavy load of touches on offense, Hall was also a crucial part of the defense. Playing the linebacker spot, Hall racked up 23 tackles in just two games. Once the team lost Hall for the year the unit was not the same.

Levi Alldredge was another player for the Cats who was all over the field. The senior linebacker/receiver totalled 32 tackles to go along with 367 receiving yards on 17 catches. Alldredge was the favorite target to Senior QB Chad Briden. This was especially evident in the only game where Briden had more than 17 pass attempts, the final regular season game against Borgia. In this game Alldredge had 8 catches for 169 yards and a touchdown, the best receiving performance in the area that week. Alldredge will be missed next season as well as Briden, who in the same game carved up the undefeated Borgia defense to the the tune of 279 yards and 2 Touchdowns.

Briden’s replacement next year will likely be Lane Davis, who started at safety this season as a Sophomore. Davis showed us one little glimpse of what may be coming when he takes over the QB job. In a trick play at Priory Davis threw a 60 yard touchdown, his only pass of the year. In fact, the WCA fans got a lot of glimpses of the future this season. Denver Parker led the defense in tackles as just a freshman. Ben Straub started all season at the cornerback position. Both played offense as well and Parker even pulled off a 60 yard touchdown run against Burroughs. In Coach Herring’s heavy run offense both Straub and Parker will be feature players the next couple of years.

Herring’s offense proved extremely effective at certain times this season, and quite the opposite at others. The offense did not begin to click until the 4th quarter of the second game of the year at St. Dominic. In games against Burroughs, MICDS, and Priory the offense looked fantastic. Yet against St. Mary’s, Lutheran South, and Rolla the unit sputtered for four quarters. However, it was a massive change from the last several seasons and we should see massive improvement in years to come. The defense looked fantastic when healthy posting 2 shutouts, and holding Priory to just a field goal.

Overall, the year was more about of what is to come in the future. There were some highs, lows, and some players who will be missed. But do not sleep on Westminster in the future, with a freshman and sophomore class that saw more action than any in recent WCA history, and an 8th grade team that has steamrolled every team in it’s path: Wins are coming, and a lot of them.