Three early turnovers by the Wildcats led to early scores by the Huntingdon Mustangs last Friday night as the ‘Cats fell hard, by the final score of 70 – 8. The Wildcats saw the Mustangs put up 28 points in each of the first two quarters of action to take a 56 – 0 lead at the half. The ‘Cats’ only score came late in the contest, with only 2:44 left, when Freshman Quarterback Austin Whitson found the end zone on a 3 yard run. Freshman running back Eli McClain scored the 2-pt. conversion to complete the scoring.
The Wildcats went 3 plays and punt on their first possession. A short punt gave the Mustangs the ball at the Wildcat 35. Four plays later Huntingdon scored on a 17 yard run. The Mustang kicker hit his first of 10 consecutive extra point attempts to make the score 7 – 0. The ‘Cats fumbled the ensuing kick, turning the ball over at the Wildcat 24. On the first play, the Mustangs went the 24 yards for their second score. Following another Wildcat punt, Huntingdon scored on a 30 yard pass play, and another Wildcat fumble was picked up and carried in from the 18 yard line to make the score 28 – 0 after the first quarter.
Huntingdon scored four more touchdowns in the second quarter. Runs of 38, 10, 2, and 12 yards for touchdowns made the score 56 – 0 at the half. In the second half, Huntingdon put together a 56 yard, 8 play drive for another score. The ‘Cats, trailing 63 – 0, threw an interception on their next series, leading to the final Mustang score, on a 23 yard run. The Wildcat reserves then put together a ten play, 78 yard drive to score with 2:44 left in the contest. Freshman Austin Whitson ran the ball 7 times for 74 yards and scored on 3 yard run. Eli McClain converted the 2-pt. conversion run, to make the final score 70 – 8.
Whitson led the ‘Cats in rushing with the 74 yards on 7 carries and the touchdown. JoJo Swinea had 19 yards on 14 carries and caught one pass for no yardage. Hunter Staggs rushed 6 times for 13 yards, and Eli McClain had 2 carries for 6 yards and scored on the conversion run. Clay Baugus caught one pass for 2 yards. Cade Crews was 2 of 9 passing for 2 yards with an interception. The ‘Cats totaled 109 total yards from scrimmage in the contest and turned the ball over four times.
The defense struggled to contain the Huntingdon ground attack, giving up 414 yards rushing on 30 attempts with 8 rushing touchdowns. They were 1 of 2 passing for 30 yards and one touchdown. The remaining touchdown was scored on a fumble return. JoJo Swinea led in tackles with 6, while Hunter Staggs and Clay Baugus tallied 4 and 3 tackles respectively. Blayne Love also had 3 tackles, and Travis Paterson, Jonmikel Lynn, Austin Whitson, Cameron Manley, Spencer Turnbow, and Julian Birchett each had 2 tackles. Paterson also broke up a pass. Tatum Potter, Tanner Potter, Dylan Kimbrel, Wesley Nutt, Chance Kelley, Damian Dickey, and Nolan Moore each made one tackle.
The Wildcats now stand at 1 – 6 on the year, and return home this week to host McEwen in a big region contest with play-off implications. Come out and support the Wildcats. Game time is 7:00 p.m. “WORK HARD WILDCATS!”—-Submitted
