Wildcats drop first game
Set sights on bi-district title

Photo/Jim Jackson The Wildcats hope to rebound from their loss against Mount Pleasant in Saturday's game.

"Bring on Mount Pleasant" was the cry of Wildcat fans after the team suffered its only district loss last week at Nacogdoches with a score of 21- 13.

After winning the district crown in a game for the ages the week before against Marshall at home, the Wildcats would travel to Nacogdoches with one goal in mind: to play hard and stay healthy to get ready for playoffs.

With the playoffs one week away, the Wildcats would play starters sparingly and use the final game of the district season as a means to give some starters some much needed rest and get some backups some much needed playing time before the playoffs.

The game would start late as a storm cell would come through Nacogdoches late Friday afternoon, and lightning knocked out power at Dragon Stadium forcing both teams to get a late start to pre-game warm ups.

The first half was a defensive struggle as both teams had trouble moving the ball as both defenses stepped up to make big plays and force the other teams' punters to get in a good workout.

The Wildcats were first to strike midway through the second quar ter as QB Brady Attaway found Alex Fleming deep down the right sideline to the four yard line before calling his own number two plays later with a 2-yard TD run. Paul Metzner's PAT was blocked resulting in a 6-0 Whitehouse lead.

Nacogdoches came right back as they connected on a 42- yard touchdown pass right before the half, and with the PAT, they would take a 7-6 lead into the half.

The Wildcats came out the second half and give the starters the rest of the night off and give the back-ups some reps. The Dragons, however, continued to find the Whitehouse defense stingy, but connected on a 24-yard TD pass late in the third quarter to extend the lead to 14-6.

Then, early in the fourth quarter, the Dragons would find the end zone again, this time on a 2-yard TD run to extend its lead to 21-6. The Wildcats would not be finished as QB Ace Estrella would score late in the fourth quarter on a four yard run to cut the lead to 21-13.

The Wildcats then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and got one last chance to possibly tie the score but Estrella's fourth down pass went incomplete, and with the win, Nacogdoches would get into the playoffs as the number three seed and will advance to the Division 1 section starting this week.

With the loss, and Marshall's defeat of Kilgore, the district champion Wildcats will be the number one seed in Division 2 (small school) and will face Mount Pleasant in round one.

Individual Statistics:

Rushing - Estrella 9-62-1, Kennedy 6-23, Broaddus 1-2, Attaway 1-1-1

Receiving - Mayo 2-36, Fleming 2-35, Miner 2-16, Williams 2-15

Passing - Attaway 9-17-79, Estrella 3-4-38