Wildcats win football shootout over Mt. Vernon 42-32

In a night marked by the Mt. Vernon Bulldog no-huddle offense, some rather poor Oak Harbor tackling at times, and some really (and I mean REALLY) bad and missed calls on the part of the officials, the Wildcats were able to pound it out for over 400 yards on the ground and get the win.

OH got the opening kickoff at their own 30. Using the shotgun for the first time this year, the first play was a handoff to Donovan Hunt for 9 yards. Next to get the ball was Brad Farnum for a gain of 7, followed by Stephen Lewis. With a 2nd & 10 on the Wildcat 46, quarterback James Jordan kept it himself and ran down to the Mt. Vernon 48. The next play was a handoff to Hunt who broke free and ran to the end zone for the early OH lead, just 2:23 into the game.

The Bulldogs took kicker Kevin Flavin's kick at their own 2, and after the reverse, were able to get it out to the 10 yard line. On their first play from scrimmage, the MV quarterback had his pass intercepted by Rashaad Smith at the MV 46. The 'Cats weren't able to get the ball moving, and after 7 plays had only moved the ball to the MV 27, there, a Jordan pass was intercepted and returned to the OH 33, with the saving tackle made by Jordan.

MV went through 6 plays and was facing a 4th & 2 at the OH 15, but was only able to gain 1 yard, giving OH the ball on the Wildcat 14 and 2:31 to go in the 1st quarter. OH ran 5 plays, one a direct snap to Lewis, standing at the QB position, but was unable to convert on 4th down from the Bulldog 22.

The Bulldogs continued with their shotgun/no-huddle offense, but after 7 plays, faced a 4th & 17 after a gang sack by the OH defense, and punted to the Wildcat 45.

On their next possession, the 'Cats went 3-and-out, gaining zero yards. Lewis punted away, and it was downed at the MV 22. After 3 plays, MV also punted, from their own 15. Lewis took the first handoff and ran in untouched from 23 yards out, boosting the score to OH 14, MV 0 with 6:53 left in the half.

Receiving the Wildcat kickoff on the 15, Mt. Vernon again tried the reverse, this time returning the ball to the 40. On the first play, the MV QB was not able to escape the clutches of Bennett Richter, and was sacked for an 11-yard loss. However, on the very next play from the Bulldog 29, the QB connected with his receiver who ran it down to the OH 47. With a 3rd & 1 on the 38, the Bulldogs completed a pass into the end zone to close the score to 14-7 with 5:05 in the half.

After taking the MV kickoff at his own 1, Hunt ran the ball out to the 16 where he was hit really hard, causing a fumble that MV recovered. 4 plays later, it was another pass TD for the Mt. Vernon score, and a tie game with 3:52 left.

After just 5 plays on the next possession, OH was forced to punt, but after moving the ball to the OH 48, Mt. Vernon's QB fumbled the ball during a scramble, and Greg Goebel was in the right place at the right time, picked the ball up off the turf, and ran it 38 yards for the OH score with 48 seconds in the half.

After getting the kickoff at their own 39, the Bulldogs got a big assist from the officials, who tacked on a 15-yard personal foul to a MV completion, moving the ball to the OH 39 with just 35 seconds left. Some tough 'Cat defense forced 4 incompletion out of 5 attempts, and time ran out in the half with MV only moving down to the OH 21.

The opening kickoff in the 2nd half was a disaster from the OH point of view. MV caught the ball at the 5 and was able to return it to the OH 1, with kicker Kevin Flavin running him down from behind. Two plays later, Mt. Vernon tied it up again at 21. Oak Harbor was only able to run 3 plays on their next possession before the fumble bug bit again, and MV had the ball with great field position on the OH 37. The Oak Harbor defense bent, allowing the 'Dogs to move to the OH 16, but forced a field goal attempt with 8:31 to go in the 3rd. The field goal was good for the Mt. Vernon lead, 24-21.

Oak Harbor got the ball moving, using 8 plays to move from the OH 27 to the MV 35, including a fake punt that was snapped to Hunt who ran for the 1st down, and got another 15 yards added due to a Mt. Vernon personal foul penalty. But, the drive stalled when a 4th down pass attempt fell incomplete due to pressure on Jordan.

Mt. Vernon went 3-and-out, punting from their own 35. Sam Wolfe took the punt at his own 30 and returned it 9 yards, where the Wildcat offense took over, and used running by Hunt, Farnum and a 20-yard run by Lewis to score with 2:18 in the 3rd, and putting Oak Harbor back in the lead 28-24.

On Mt. Vernon's possession, they were only able to move the ball from their own 41 to the OH 43, partly due to a deflected pass by Lewis, forcing a 4th & 10. The MV punter took the snap, started running as if it were a fake punt, then kicked the ball while on the run.

With the ball on the OH 7, Brad Farnum got the ball on the handoff, ran straight up the middle, and with the crowd cheering madly, rumbled 88 yards down to the Bulldog 5. From there, Lewis was able to run it in with 2:18 in the 3rd, making it OH 28, MV 24.

Oak Harbor attempted a surprise onside kick that almost worked, but the Wildcat that was running at the ball was blocked, and it rolled OOB at the MV 43. MV was facing a 3rd and 14 on the OH 32 when their pass fell incomplete, but the official said the OH defenders hit the receiver too hard, and after the 15-yard penalty, MV had a new set of down at the Wildcat 17. The Bulldog QB ran the ball for just two yards on the next play before being tackled hard by a combo of Chris Neumiller and Greg Goebel. At that point the Wildcat crowd went crazy and the stadium was rocking with the cheering and pounding. It must have helped unsettle the MV offense, as their next two passes fell incomplete, and the field goal attempt from the OH 15 went wide left.

With 10:18 to go in the game, the 'Cats went into ball control/clock wasting mode, using runs by Lewis, Hunt, Farnum and Derrick Clarit to move the ball from the OH 20 to the MV 26, where, again, it was fumbled away.

Mt. Vernon used a series of screen passes to move the ball from their own 20 down to the OH 14 in just over a minute and a half. A conveniently called defensive pass interference call on OH moved the ball to the OH 7, and 3 plays later Mt. Vernon was able to push it in. After converting on the 2-point attempt, which was itself controversial, as many felt the receiver did not have possession of the ball, the Bulldogs had narrowed the score to 35-32 with 3:36 left.

Surprisingly, Mt. Vernon did not attempt an onside kick, but they did leave early, and after the offside penalty enforcement, kicked from the 35. Donovan Hunt took the kick at his own 9, returning it 19 yards to the 29. The MV defense was able to hold the OH offense to only 2 yards, and the OH punt was fair caught at the MV 45.

The Bulldogs were not able to make a single yard, throwing incomplete on all 4 pass attempts. Actually, that's not entirely true, as the third down pass was caught by Coach Mueller on the sideline. It was a very nice one-handed catch!

Oak Harbor took over on the MV 45 with 2:37 to go, and moved it down to the MV 29, running the clock down to 35 seconds. Looking at a 4th & 13, Oak Harbor called a timeout, and the handoff was given to Hunt, who broke free from at least 2 tacklers and sprinted to the end zone to put the final nail in the Bulldogs coffin.

Mt. Vernon was only able to get the ball to the OH 30 before the clock ran out, giving the Wildcats the 42-32 win, boosting their record to 2-2 overall, 1-0 in the WESCO North.

Each of the 3 main Wildcat runners each tallied over 100 yards on the ground: Lewis 17-129, Hunt 11-171, and Farnum 11-121.

A final word on the officials - it may have been that due to Mt. Vernon's no-huddle, pass oriented offense that had people spread all over the field, but numerous holds and illegal blocks by Mt. Vernon were missed, while 'mystery' pass interference and questionable pass interference calls went against Oak Harbor. I'm speaking of one hold in particular, which I'll post with the highlights. You can clearly see the OH defender being dragged to the ground by the offensive lineman with the referee looking on, but no flag.

We'd like to thank partner KWDB 1110 radio in Oak Harbor for the plug. Wildcat football is broadcast live on KWDB radio, and is streamed online, so our family members in uniform that are overseas can listen in on the action. In the near future, KWDB hopes to have the the games available as a podcast, so you can listen to the game at your convenience. You can find them at http://www.kwdb.com/

You can also see the game on delay on Wildcat TV, Comcast channel 21 in the Oak Harbor area. This student-run TV station is overseen by Chris Douthitt, assisted by Jim Riney of Riney Production Services.

In other games of interest to Wildcat fans:

Everett 28, Cascade 8
Lake Stevens 45, Arlington 23
Marysville-Pilchuck 42, Stanwood 14
Snohomish 35, Monroe 28
South Whidbey 22, Cedarcrest 14
Granite Falls 35, Coupeville 7
Archbishop Murphy 49, Sultan 19

Highlight video will be posted to YouTube Tuesday morning.

Next up for the Wildcats: Snohomish at home next Friday.