Photo credit: Billy Schuerman, The Crimson Connection
The Wildcats held a potent Cy Ridge offense to just six points (the other two came on a safety) and actually led 13-8 after the first 24 minutes of action despite accumulating just 27 yards of offense. Unfortunately, the offense did not fare much better in the second half, and a defense that held out valiantly against the Rams in the first half eventually cracked, and Ridge outscored the Wildcats 21-0 in the fourth quarter to emerge with a 36-21 victory. The Cats did win the turnover battle in this contest, but again, a lackluster offense meant that most of those opportunities went by the wayside.
One loss is not a backbreaker, and district play is just getting underway. Cy Woods is definitely still in the mix, but their margin for error has shrunk quite a bit.
So, What Happened Was...
The Rams opened the scoring..... with a safety. On their ensuing offensive possession, however, Semaj Trahan scored his first touchdown at the varsity level.... with an 86-yard pick six. Woods had the ball for less than two minutes in the first quarter and managed to come out with the lead.
End 1st: Woods 6, Ridge 2
TyRae Thornton muffed a punt inside the five, and the Wildcats pounced on the ball at the Rams' two-yard line. Jacob Kainer parlayed the miscue into the game's first offensive touchdown with a one-yard run. Kevin LeDee caught an 11-yard touchdown pass right before halftime.
Halfitme: Woods 13, Ridge 8
Jack Barrientez caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from Jacob, and Connor Faulk ran the ball in for two points to put Cy Woods up 21-8, but Cy Ridge finished this game on a 28-0 run. Trelon Smith scored his first touchdown of the evening from nine yards out with just under three minutes to go in the third.
End 3rd: Woods 21, Ridge 15
Smith opened up the fourth quarter with a bang, scoring from 88 yards to give Ridge the lead. Alex Jacobs finished off the Cats with two touchdown runs from one yard and 23 yards.
The Wildcats have been outscored 41-7 in the fourth quarter this season. This is the first game in which the fourth quarter was not garbage time.
Final: Ridge 36, Woods 21
Ground
A lot of carries, not a lot of yards. Nijah Surtain is a sophomore who was recently made eligible for varsity competition; he is one of three sophomores who were promoted to the varsity this past week, bringing the total number of tenth-graders on the roster to nine.
Jacob Kainer: 24 carries, 68 yards, TD
Nijah Surtain, 10 carries, 45 yards
Jack Barrientez: 7 carries, 15 yards
Bobby Dodson: 1 carry: 0 yards
Brighton Gullickson: 2 carries, -9 yards
Air
Sounds like drops haunted the Cats in this game. Jack Barrientez has caught ten passes this season. Ten other Wildcats have combined for 18 receptions; none have caught more than three. Someone is going to have to step up and become a threat in the passing game, or else the Cats will be running a bunch for very few yards.
Jacob Kainer: 6-17, 106 yards, TD, INT
Bobby Dodson: 0-1
Brighton Gullickson: 0-1
Jack Barrientez: 3 catches, 22 yards, TD
Angel Laca: 1 catch, 43 yards
Bobby Dodson: 1 catch, 27 yards
Tanner Sherrill: 1 catch, 14 yards
Defense
The offense's woes ensured that it would be a long night for the defense. They did well to hold the Rams offense to just six points in the first half, but you get the feeling that it would only be a matter of time before they cracked. On the other hand, they must have realized that taking the ball away from the other team is a beneficial tactic. Too bad the offense couldn't get more points off of those turnovers.
Kason Franklin and Myles Wilson had 13 tackles apiece for the Cats. Semaj Trahan scored Cy Woods' first touchdown with his pick six.
Interceptions: Semaj Trahan 1, returned 86 yards for a touchdown
Fumbles forced: Elijah Strang and Micheal Young, 1 apiece
Fumbles recovered: Tory Spears, Myles Wilson, Micheal Young; Spears returned his fumble 12 yards.
Tackles
Kason Franklin 13
Myles Wilson 13
Elijah Strang, Tory Spears, Neil Chambers 7
Micheal Young and Collin Fewox 4
Cody Eggleston 3
Ryan Kenny, Connor Faulk, Tyler Redgrave 2
Nine players recorded one tackle.
Special Teams
It was a pretty adventurous Saturday night for Luis Reyes. He hit one of his two extra point attempts; the first one was blocked following a bad snap. Luis also had a snap sail over his head when he was lining up to punt, and that resulted in a safety.
Luis Reyes: 1-2 XP; 6 punts, 235 yards (39.2 yards per punt)
Jack Barrientez now has the longest kickoff return this season for Cy Woods.
Jake Tesch: 1 kick returned, 21 yards; 2 punts returned, 10 yards
Jack Barrientez: 1 kick returned, 43 yards
Matt Ficalora: 1 kick returned, 18 yards
Jake Fennis: 1 kick returned, 8 yards
Man of the Match
I'll have to go with Semaj Trahan. I know he would probably rather stay on offense, but this team is in dire need of difference makers on defense, and especially in the secondary. Five years ago, Cy Woods had the best secondary in the district, hands down. Semaj is an incredibly talented player who can make a difference at any skill position. On Saturday, in his first game at a position he just started learning, he held his own against Kevin LeDee, one of the district's top receivers.
Semaj seems to have handled the transition well... I'm sure he had some reservations at first, but now that he knows that he can make an impact on defense, I hope he's there to stay.
Looking Ahead
The Wildcats will take on the Jersey Village Falcons on Saturday, September 24 at Pridgeon Stadium in the 100th game in Cy Woods football history. The Cats will be the away team in this contest. Kickoff is at 6:00.
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