Wildcats bring Valley Cup back to Mount Si
Published 9:19 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
In what turned out to be a hard fought and very exciting contest, the Mount Si Wildcats turned back a Cedarcrest attempt to tie with only seconds remaining in the game, and brought the Valley Cup back to the Upper Valley with a 21-14 win over the Red Wolves on Friday night in front of a large crowd at Mount Si High School.
The excitement started on the first play when the Red Wolves fumbled and Mount Si recovered. This put the Wildcats on the Cedarcrest 20-yard line to start their first possession, and it didn’t take long for the Wildcats to get on the board. Two plays in, wide receiver Tyler Austin scored on a 15-yard run, and after Brett Bergstrom kicked the extra point, Mount Si was up 7-0.
Cedarcrest tied the game with 4:46 left in the first quarter when running back Tommy Harding scored on an 8-yard run. Their scoring drive was keyed by a 26-yard run from Harding. Quarterback Sean McDonald and fellow running back Aaron O’Neal also contributed to the scoring drive.
Cedarcrest’s next possession was stopped before it could start. They fumbled on a punt return and Mount Si recovered the ball, setting up a drive which ended after running back Tyler Bergstrom scored from 1 yard out to give the Wildcats a 14-7 lead. The drive was keyed by a 22-yard reception from wide receiver Brett Bergstrom.
The Wildcats weren’t done. They scored on their next possession as well, to start the second quarter. Wide receiver Brandon Dollinter scored a touchdown on a 16-yard reception from quarterback Byron Dill, and it gave the Wildcats a 21-7 lead at just over two minutes into the second quarter.
The Red Wolves didn’t stop fighting. They scored on the following possession, on an O’Neal 1-yard run. Harding also contributed to this scoring drive, and the Red Wolves were down 21-14. That was the score at half-time and it looked as if it would be an offensive night for both sides. But the second half was a different story.
Defense was the story of the second half. Mount Si had a strong chance to score to open the third quarter, but they fumbled and Cedarcrest recovered deep in their own end of the field. On the next Wildcat possession, kicker Brett Bergstrom had another chance to put Mount Si farther into the lead, but missed a 31-yard field goal try wide left.
The fourth and final quarter continued this theme. The Wildcats’ first possession of the quarter was stopped by an interception from defensive back Zack Taylor. The ensuing drive didn’t go anywhere thanks to an illegal-procedure penalty on the Red Wolves, which gave them enough yards back to force a fourth down that they didn’t convert.
Late in the quarter, the two teams swapped turnovers and this set up the final Cedarcrest drive. O’Neal and McDonald marched the Red Wolves down the field until they got to around the Mount Si 10-yard line. That’s when the Wildcats put an end to the effort with just seconds remaining. Defensive lineman John Karlen first sacked McDonald, and then McDonald’s last pass on fourth down was tipped by two Wildcat defenders and the game was sealed with a 21-14 Wildcat victory.
The Valley Record’s Jim McKiernan presented the Valley Cup trophy to the Mount Si team just minutes after the game ended, and the Wildcats celebrated.
