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BULLDOGS BITE WILDCATES On a chilli night in Canton, the McKinley bulldogs took on the Wildcats from Cleveland St. Ignatius in what would turn out as the game of the season so far. The crowd of 14,331 would be treated to big hits all night long. Defense would be boss all night long as both teams would struggle on offense all game long. Canton would gain 151 total yards all night and only 12 first downs, 6 in each half. The Wildcats would only have a total 122 yards and 10 first downs. Near the end of the 1st quarter, Canton was starting to put a drive together, but a great play by Tony Gonzalez (jr 6'0" db) resulted in an interception, killing the drive and putting "uncle mo" on the side of the Wildcats with :51 left in the quarter. Canton would break through the next time it would get the ball as Shalamar Gilmer (sr 5'9" 173 rb) turned what looked like a big loss into a 30 yard touchdown by reversing his field and leaving the Wildcats in their tracks. The extra point was added by senior kicker Matt Campbell. With 11:10 left in the half, it was 7-0 Canton McKinley. The Wildcats would force the Bulldogs into a punting situation but the Bulldog coaching staff called for a fake, resulting in a great 59 yard touchdown run by senior punter Mark Huddleston. With the extra point, the Bulldogs led 14-0 in the first half. The Wildcats would get right back in the game as John van der Oord would take the kickoff and return it 38 yards giving the offense the ball on their own 45. Senior quarterback Nate Szep (6'3" 215) would connect on a 22 yard pass to running back Chuck Flanagan. The drive would end when runningback John van der Oord (sr 5'11" 175) would plow in from a yard out. The extra point kick by Kelvin Byrne (6'1" 18) would make the score 14-7 and that's the way the half would end. The 3rd quarter would be a hard hitting one as neither offense could get anything going and entering the 4th the score would stay 14-7 Canton McKinley. Ignatius would start 4 drives in Bulldog territory with 2 of them starting at the 27 and 29, but the defense would stand tall each time. The 4th quarter was again a defensive one as several players would come up big. One of the biggest was a sack by Lucas Peterson (5'7" 292) a senior lineman who played an outstanding game. The Wildcats with 8:25 left, ended a nice drive when quarterback Nate Szep would hit Matt Miller (sr 6'1" wr) for a 8 yard td. The extra point was again good and the score was all tied at 14. The Bulldogs would face a 3rd and short and the call was a run to the right side which came up short leaving a bad angle and it caused kicker Matt Miller to miss what would have been a game winning field goal. With :31 seconds left in regulation, a wide open Bulldog receiver was about to make a game winning catch on a beautiful pass thrown by senior quarterback Ben Palumbo (6'2" 216) but a heads up play by the defense resulted in a pass interfernce call giving the bulldogs a 1st down and end up leading to overtime. The Wildcats would go for a 45 yard field goal, but soon to be hero Reggie Corner (5'11" 163 wr/db) would block it. Palumbo would throw his best touchdown pass of the season and the hero, Corner, would make the biggest catch of his high school career causing the crowd to erupt as he was mobbed by his teammates in the endzone. The game ending catch puctuated a great game. The final would read; 20-14 Bulldogs. newarcatholicfan |