Wildcats defeat Arlington for Homecoming!

On a cool, blustery Friday night, Kevin Flavin kicked a field goal with 8:17 left in the first quarter. It was all the Wildcats would need, as the Oak Harbor defense came alive for homecoming, shutting down the Arlington Eagles offense.

Oak Harbor received the kickoff, and starting from their own 38 used a series of runs out of the spread offense to move the ball. The first run was by Stephen Lewis for 5 yards, then Donovan Hunt ran from the OH 43 down to the Arlington 41, then added another 20 yards on the next play. QB James Jordan, after a muffed snap, was able to run the ball down to the Arlington 6. From there, the ‘Cats lost 2 yards on 3 plays, setting up Flavin’s 25-yard field goal and the 3-0 Wildcat lead.

Flavin’s kickoff went into the end zone for a touchback, and the Eagle were able to move the ball down to the OH 35, where a 4th & 2 pass attempt fell incomplete.

Taking over on downs with 4:06 left in the 1st, the Wildcats mounted a drive that used the remainder of the 1st to move down to the Arlington 31. The drive lasted 11 plays, and as the quarter ended, the ‘Cats faced a 4th & 5 on the Arlington 23. Some in the crowd were calling for Oak Harbor to call a timeout just before the quarter expired and have Flavin kick a field goal with the wind at his back, but instead let time expire. In the first play of the 2nd quarter, Lewis got a shovel pass from Jordan, but the Eagles were waiting for him and he was only able to get to the 20, and Arlington got the ball on downs.

The Wildcat defense held Arlington to a 3-and-out, forcing them to punt on a 4th & 14 from the Arlington 20. OH was not able to get anything going on this drive, losing 6 yards before punting back to Arlington.

Arlington started on their own 44, and after running 6 plays, including a holding penalty and an intentional grounding flag, found themselves on their own 47 and a 4th & 21.

Arlington punted back to Oak Harbor with 4:53 left in the half, and the Wildcats used runs by Hunt, Lewis and Jordan, along with a pass to Hunt, and another to Josh Higbee that was just short of the first down with 1:13 left in the half. Facing a 4th & 1 from the Arlington 25, some in the crowd were again calling for a field goal attempt, but Jordan gave the ball to Hunt for no gain. With just 33 seconds in the half, Arlington opted to take a knee and head to the locker room down 3-0.

Coming out for the 2nd half, Arlington had their only sustained drive of the game. Starting from their own 20 after Flavin kicked the ball through the end zone, the Eagles ran 10 plays to get to the OH 16, including a 23-yard pass from the OH 44 down to the 21. A short run by the Eagle QB was followed by an incomplete pass, setting up a 4th & 5. The pass was thrown to the end zone and was intercepted by Josh Higbee, preserving the Oak Harbor shutout.

Starting their next possession from the OH 20, Stephen Lewis got the ball for 5 straight plays – 4 runs and a pass, moving the ball into Eagle territory, but that’s as far as they could get, as the next 3 plays netted a loss of 2 yards. The snap to the punter was low and bobbled, but Lewis was able to get a kick off, but it only went 19 yards to the Arlington 25. As the 3rd quarter ended, Arlington had moved the ball to the Oak Harbor 46. Again, the Wildcat defense stiffened, forcing Arlington to punt once again, down to the Wildcat 21. The OH offense sputtered, losing a yard after 4 plays, one of which was an illegal substitution infraction on a punt. It was a costly penalty, as the original punt went to the Arlington 49, but after walking off the 5 yards, the 2nd punt went only to the OH 36.

That really fired up the OH defense, and on a 3rd & 4 play the Arlington QB tried to run, but was swarmed by the defensive line, and lost 4 yards. The Eagles went for it on 4th down, but the pass was incomplete.

Oak Harbor again went 3-and-out, but were able to punt onto the Eagles half of the field.

The next Arlington possession was a disaster for them, as the runner fumbled the ball, but was able to recover it, after a 3-yard loss, and on the next play the QB was sacked by Yale Rosen. Arlington’s third down play was a completed pass, but for only 5 yards, putting them in a 4th & 15 situation on their own 44 with under 4 minutes to play in the game. The Eagle QB dropped back to pass, but was hit by Lewis coming from his blind side.

Getting the ball on the Arlington 38 with 3:40 left in the game, runs by Jordan and Hunt moved the ball to the 21. Arlington used their final 2 timeouts on the next two plays, followed by 2 OH timeouts. Facing a 4th & 7 with 59 seconds left, the Wildcats executed a near-perfect reverse, and Derrick Clarit was headed for what looked like a TD, but was tackled at around the Arlington 5. Unfortunately, the ‘Cats were called for holding on the play, moving the ball back to the 21 for a Wildcat 4th & 10. Jordan threw a pass to the goal line, but it fell incomplete with 18 seconds left.

Arlington, with the ball at their own 21 threw a deep pass to the OH 40, but it fell incomplete with 9 seconds left. A second pass attempt fell at the OH 43, but the ‘Cats were called for defensive pass interference, and Arlington had one last chance from their own 36 and 1.5 seconds on the clock. The Eagle QB dropped back to pass, and was smothered by Rosen and Greg Goebel, sealing the Homecoming Victory.

Some photos taken of Homecoming fans and court have been posted HERE.

Other football scores of interest to Wildcat fans:

Glacier Peak 42, Everett 24
Marysville 43, Kamiak 14
Snohomish 28, Stanwood 14
Cascade 26, Shorewood 7
Lakewood 42, Coupeville 6
Lake Stevens 52, Monroe 13