Cats win dogfight with Athens 30-26 in Area Playoff

?Holy stinking cow!? as one longtime Wildcat coach is fond of saying. What a game, what a game.

 

Kennedale (12-0) and ranked #2 in the THSCA Regional Poll beat #6 Athens (8-4) last night 30-26 at City BanK Field in Forney. {{more}}

The short of it is that the undefeated Kennedale Wildcats, facing elimination from the playoffs and down 4 points, went the length of the field to score the winning touchdown with 18 seconds left on the clock.

 

… the real story happened several minutes earlier

Pretty amazing but the real story of the game happened a several minutes earlier. The score was 26-21 in favor of the Athens Hornets and the Hornets were swarming. They had taken control of the line in the last half and the D-Cats were being stung, pushed around, walked on and generally manhandled by a bunch of mad hornets.

Head Coach Richard Barrett with firm grasp on Area Trophy

With 8 minutes in the game and after a Wildcat fumble, Athens took over at midfield. Five plays later, the Hornets had a first down on the Kennedale 7 yard line. Then Athens picked up 4 yards.

 

A touchdown now by Athens with about 3 minutes left would have left the Cats pretty much tamed and caged, needing to score twice to win.

 

On 2nd and goal on the three yard line the Hornets picked up another 2 yards. The Athens sidelines were going crazy. But the D-Cats dug in and Athens’ try on on third and one in a frontal assault, fails for no gain.

 

The tension was bouncing around the stadium. The Hornets called the play and gave it to their big play guy, RB Logan Fuller who averaged 5 yards per carry in the game. He drives into the pile needing only a yard or slightly less.

 

...Kennedale players were screaming no touchdown

 

The pile swayed and moved sideways and then forward before crumbling under its own weight.

Kennedale players were screaming no touchdown. The Hornets were raising their arms for a touchdown and the referees were rushing in from the sides blowing their whistles.

RB Cody Gillespie, DB Derrick Williams, LB Taylor Thibeau and QB Jake Michener after Area win

Which is mightier, the sting or the claw?

 

In this case, the Wildcats just clawed there way back into the game. They stopped the Hornets when it matter and just by inches.

 

The Cat took over on the ? yard line, still behind and with only a few minutes left in the game. But, with a 99 yard drive and a touchdown, the Kennedale comeback was complete.

 

…Or was the story Juwan …

Of course, you could argue that the story was Juwan Washington and his 50 yard touchdown with just 7 seconds left in the 1st half to give the Cats the lead at halftime 21-14. Or, his 268 yards and 3 touchdowns.

 

But, maybe it was Michener?s one pass attempt in the game for 39 yards to Cody Gillespie in the final Wildcat drive in the waning minutes of the game.

 

…or Derrick Williams’ bolt for 96 yards

 

Or, perhaps it was Derrick Williams’ out of the blue bolt for 96 yard run on a fumbled 2 point conversion try by Athens. It was worth only 2 points for Kennedale but at the moment it was huge with the score at 26-23

 

But, then again on a 3rd and nine with just 8 seconds left in the game, Michener?s 11 yard run up the middle for the final and winning touchdown of the game can?t be overlooked.

There were enough stories in this game to give the players something to talk about at their class reunions for years to come.

Unofficial stats

 

Team:

• K – 406 yards total offense, 367 by rushing at 9.87 yds per, 1 for 1 passing for 39 yards, 1 punt for 26 yds, fumbles 2 for 2, 9 penalties for 60 yards

• A – 391 total yards all by rushing at 6.63 yds per, 0 for 1 passing, no punt, fumbles 1 for 1, 7 penalties for 45 yards

Individual:

• K ? Juwan Washington 27/268 yds at 9.93 per and 3 TDs; Ronald Hayes 10/45 yds at 4.5 per; Jake Michener 6/37 yds at 6.17 per with 1 TD and 1/1 passing for 39 yds; Cody Gillespie 3/17 yds at 5.37 per and 1 reception for 39 yds.

• A ? Logan Fuller 34/175 yds at 5.15 per and 2 TDs; Travon Fuller 9/124 yds at 13.78 per and 2 TDs; Devin Head 16/92 yds at 5.15 per.

#2 Kennedale lines up against the THSCA’s #1 Argyle Eagles next week at 7:30 p.m. Friday, November 28 at Hanby Field in Mesquite, Texas. (NOTE: Time has been changed to 6:00 p.m. same place, same day).