The Wildcat football team had a great season come to an disappointing end on Halloween night, losing 42-14 to the top-seeded Sullivan Eagles in the second round of the district playoffs.
The Eagles scored on their first five possessions of the game to take a 35-0 halftime lead and tacked on another touchdown in the third quarter. WCA quarterback Brett Bond, junior, gave the Blue Crew something to cheer about in the fourth quarter with touchdown passes to Kyle Kinner and Tyler Catlett, juniors and a two-point conversion pass to Jesse Gruneisen, senior.
The game began with Brenden Bognar, sophomore, at quarterback and Chris Cacciarelli, senior, playing wide receiver. Bond and Kinner were suspended for the first quarter due to disciplinary reasons. The Eagles built a 28-0 lead before Bond and Kinner took the field. The offense continued to sputter until the two touchdowns in the fourth quarter while the defense gave up two more touchdowns over the course of the last three-quarters of the game. While the season ended on a disappointing note, the Wildcats have something to be proud of and something to build on as they begin working toward the 2013 season.
“We set a good foundation this year and next year we have a lot of guys back that already mesh well and have good chemistry,” said Catlett.
The Wildcats had their first-ever single-elimination playoff victory on October 25th, defeating Ladue 28-0. They jumped out to a 14-0 lead on two touchdown passes from Bond to Kinner in the first quarter and extended their lead to 21-0 with a two yard run by running back Trey Merritt, sophomore, with 32 seconds left in the first half. They clinched the victory in the fourth quarter with a three-yard touchdown run by lineman Justin Creighton, sophomore, out of the “Jumbo” formation. The defense turned in a dominating performance, allowing a mere 107 yards and recording four takeaways.
“It was pretty awesome to beat Ladue in the rain the way we did. It was a fun game to play,” said running back and outside linebacker Alex Rideout, senior.
The Wildcats entered the season having won four games in the two previous seasons. Expectations were low for a team with only nine returning starters on both sides of the ball combined and an uncertain quarterback situation. Thus they surprised when they won their first four games, including a thrilling 38-19 come-from-behind victory over Wheaton Academy from Chicago and a 34-0 shutout victory over rival MICDS. They were brought back down to earth with losses to Priory and John Burroughs but rebounded by winning their three final regular season games, including a 48-0 victory over Bishop DuBourg on senior day.
“The DuBourg game was fun. We killed them and then let the young guys play and get some varsity experience,” said Rideout.
The team’s turnaround was catalyzed by the emergence of some key players. Bond threw for 1719 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also was the leading rusher, running for 504 yards and seven touchdowns.
Kinner hauled in 49 catches for 902 yards and nine touchdowns in his first season as a varsity starter. He also returned a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns and threw a touchdown.
Jacob Hicks, senior, switched from quarterback to slotback and led the team with 504 total yards rushing and receiving and was second on the team with eight touchdowns.
Merritt emerged as the starting running back partway through the season and was second on the team with 432 rushing yards and scored two touchdowns.
Creighton was one of the most underrated factors in the turnaround, consistently defeating double teams, and recovering three fumbles at defensive tackle, and scoring two touchdowns from the fullback position in the “Jumbo” formation. He also started four games on the offensive line due to injuries.
