- January 10, 2025
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It couldn't have gone much better under the bright lights at Showalter Field on Friday night for the Wildcats.
In front of a strong crowd, the Wildcats (9-0, 4-0) stormed their way to a dominating 27-7 win of district rival Boone (5-2, 2-1) to take the district crown and seal up a spot in the postseason.
You could tell by the expressions on the faces of players and coaches that getting the chance to win a district title in front of their home crowd was everything they had hoped to achieve this season.
"You start the season off with a goal and obviously our goal was to win the district championship... we want to host the first regional playoff game," said Head Coach Tim Shifflet after the game. "I'm really excited for the coaches, and I'm really excited for our kids."
A balanced offense and defense helped the Wildcats dominate a strong team in Boone, as the offensive game kicked in early for the home side.
With just over a minute left in the first quarter, the Wildcats found themselves in the red zone as receiver Brian Gomez capped off the drive with a touchdown run down the right side. After the extra point, the Wildcats had the lead.
On the Braves following drive, with about 19-seconds left in the quarter, strong safety Cullen Honohan jumped on a loose ball and gave possession right back to the Wildcats. Less than three minutes later, Honohan found his way to the back of the end zone after hauling down a pass from quarterback Cameron LeGree to make it 14-0.
Looking to find a response to the Wildcats' offensive onslaught, the Braves managed to drive down the field before quarterback Jaxsen Anagnostis squeezed through tackles and into the end zone on a QB sneak to cut the lead to 14-7.
From there on out, the Braves wouldn't find the end zone again as the Wildcats' defense stymied any real scoring chances for the away side. The Braves would try for a 42-yard field goal, but the kick would go wide of the post.
After going into the half up 14-7, the Wildcats' offense would step up big time as LeGree found receiver Cameron Brown on a long touchdown pass to make it 21-7 to kick off the third-quarter. In the fourth-quarter, Gomez would be on the receiving end of another touchdown, this time on a short pass, to make it 27-7.
Along with the strong offensive output, the defense managed to shut down a Braves' offense that had outscored opponents 170 to 37.
It was a senior night effort that couldn't have made Shifflet any prouder.
"The game was a lot about tempo, controlling the clock, and playing on a short field – we got some turnovers that I really didn't expect to get, because they haven't turned the ball over all year," Shifflet said. "So the kids made some plays and for the most part we got down there and scored some points when we needed to, and the defense did another great job."
The Wildcats have one last game in the regular season before they can think about the playoffs, as they travel to Lake Mary (7-1, 5-0) next week.