Fighting All the Way, Wildcats Trumped by Hilltoppers

The football team suffered a 55-34 loss to Burlington Catholic Central in a non-conference game in Burlington Saturday afternoon.

The Hilltoppers moved the ball at will on offense. They compiled 630 yards of total offense, 487 yards on the ground and 143 yards through the air. The Wildcats in comparison had 220 yards running and 171 yards passing for a total of 391 yards gained in the game.

Catholic Central scored the first touchdown of the game. The Hilltoppers got the ball on the 50-yard line after a USM punt, and with just two passes and two runs, they moved into the end zone. Grant Alderman ran it across from five yards out for the score. T.J. Walkington added a point after on a kick and it was 7-0 with 5:37 left in the first quarter.  

The Wildcats began the next drive on their own 40-yard line and moved to Catholic Central’s 8-yard line in six plays, but a fumble on their seventh play gave the ball to the Hilltoppers at the Catholic Central one-yard line.

It was Catholic Central’s time to march. In 10 plays they moved to the USM 9-yard line and on the 11th play of their drive, the Hilltoppers had seven more points on a nine-yard run by Rayce Wadsworth and another extra point kick by Walkington.

USM closed the scoring gap on the very next play when Djdade Denson ran the kickoff back 91 yards for USM’s first touchdown of the day. Tommy Pennington kicked the extra point to make it 14-7 at 10:34 in the second quarter.

It wasn’t long before Catholic Central’s lead was back to 14 points. After the USM kickoff put the Hilltoppers at their own 26, Alderman ran for nine yards. A penalty dropped them back five yards and then Carson Meinholz, the Hilltoppers’ quarterback, kept the ball on a fake handoff and ran 70 yards for a touchdown.  Walkington added the extra point.

The Wildcats kept it close by scoring again on their next drive. After an incomplete pass, Toran Marks ran twice for 17 yards and three yards. Pennington then threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Duke Butler. Pennington’s extra point kick was good and it was 21-14 with 8:15 on the second quarter clock.

The Hilltoppers then widened the scoring margin significantly in two short drives.  They made it 28-14 on a four-play, 71-yard drive, and after USM turned over the ball on downs, they scored on another four-play march to make it 35-14 at halftime.

USM stopped the Hilltoppers’ first drive of the second half when Pennington recovered a Catholic Central fumble. The Wildcats, however, could do nothing with the ball. They went three and out, and gave the ball back on a punt.

Starting at the USM 25-yard line, the Hilltoppers had two incomplete passes but they strung together runs of 37 and 17 yards by Meinholz, 18 yards by Wadsworth, seven yards by Kyle Kresken and one yard by Alderman before Meinholz ran the ball across the USM goal line for another touchdown for the Hilltoppers.

USM fumbled again on its next drive and in three plays the Hilltoppers scored again when Wadsworth ran the ball in from 29 yards out. Burlington Catholic Central suddenly had a 49-14 lead with 4:57 left in the third quarter.

After the kickoff, the Wildcats scored their next touchdown quickly. They scored in two plays. First Pennington made a short run and then he raced away from the line of scrimmage for a 50-yard touchdown run. The point after the attempt was unsuccessful. 

Catholic Central made it 55-20 at 7:44 when Meinholz scored on a 64-yard quarterback keeper run.

USM then had two touchdown drives. On the first, Kenny Servis ran the ball on four straight plays and scored on the final one from 22 yards out. Pennington added the extra point, and it was 55-27. On the second, Pennington threw a 13-yard pass to Lane Stanford for the touchdown and Pennington’s successful extra point gave the game its final score.

In the game, Meinholz ran for 219 yards and threw 10 of 17 completions for 143 yards. Alderman ran for 126 yards and Wadsworth ran for 114 yards. Pennington led USM with 102 yards running. Servis gained 79 yards and Marks added 30 yards. Pennington threw nine of 18 passes for completions and 171 yards. Butler caught five passes for 50 yards, Stanford caught two for 45 yards, Austin Heun caught one for 71 yards, and Denson caught one for five yards.

Both Catholic Central and USM now have 4-3 records. The Wildcats hope to improve their record when they travel to Beaver Dam for a Midwest Classic Conference North game against Wayland Academy at 1 p.m. Saturday.