Wildcats Win Football Opener

The University School football team christened Don Forti Stadium Friday with a 28-12 victory over Milwaukee Vincent. The newly constructed stadium was built as a complement to Ken Laird Field that received a new artificial surface this summer. The facilities are named after two storied USM football coaches.

USM outscored the Vikings 14-6 in the first quarter and never looked back as they cruised to the first football win in the new complex.  The Wildcats first touchdown came as the result of a fumble on a Vincent punt attempt.  The misplayed snap on the punt rolled to the Vincent one-yard line, giving USM a first and goal.  On the first play from scrimmage, Zach Erickson handed the ball to Michael Tucker who sprinted around the left end and raced into the end zone at 8:25.  Erickson kicked the point after touchdown for USM.

Later in the quarter, the Vikings scored one play after a USM punt when Deontay Vann bounced off tackle and scampered 45 yards for a touchdown.  The USM defense stonewalled the two-point attempt and lead 7-6, with 2:38 left in the quarter.

After a short kick-off, the Wildcats put together a seven-play drive to score another touchdown as the quarter ended.  The drive culminated in a 14 yard run by Toran Marks and a successful PAT by Erickson with just 34.7 seconds left in the quarter. 

After the ensuing kick-off, the Wildcats played tough defense, stopping the Vikings in three plays from scrimmage and a punt.  The Wildcats then needed just four offensive plays of their own to score their third TD.  Erickson threw a 16-yard pass to Chris Cooper for the score at 8:43. Erickson kicked his third extra point of the half to increase USM’s lead to 21-6.

The Wildcats increased their lead even more early in the third quarter.  A four-play drive put USM on the Vincent 35 yard line. On the fifth play from scrimmage, Erickson threw another touchdown strike to Cooper and kicked another extra point at 7:06 to make it 28-6.

Late in the third quarter, Vincent put together a 17-play drive that was aided by a fifteen-yard penalty against USM.  Vincent’s quarterback Jerome Scott culminated the long march with a 7-yard run with just 16 seconds left in the quarter.  The two-point attempt was again thwarted.

Neither team scored in the final twelve minutes.  As a result, USM won 28-12.

In the game the USM put together a balanced 236 yards of offense, 138 on the ground and 98 through the air. The USM defense allowed Vincent 197 yards of total offense. Marks and Austin Heun intercepted two of Scott’s five passing attempts limiting the Vincent air attack to a mere six yards.

Vann led the Vikings with 96 yards rushing.  Marks was USM’s leading ground gainer with 73 yards, while Tucker ran for 71 yards.  Erickson completed 8 of 12 passes for USM.  Cooper caught 4 of them for 68 yards, Marks caught 2 for 14 yards, Heun caught 1 for 6 yards, and Josh Thompson caught 1 for 10 yards.

USM’s record is now 1-0.  The Wildcats hope to make it two wins in a row when they travel to Shorewood to take on the Messmer-Shorewood co-op team at 7:00 on Friday, August 31^st.