USM Easily Handles Dominican at Homecoming, 46-8

Senior quarterback Tommy Pennington accumulated more than 200 yards of total offense and helped the University School of Milwaukee Wildcats defeat the Dominican Knights 46-8 on Friday.  The victory snapped a two game losing streak and improved the Wildcats overall record to 2-2 and 2-0 in the Midwest Classic-North Conference.

“The last two games really helped prepare us for tonight,” said USM head coach Brian Sommers, who is in his first year with the Wildcats.

“We played bigger and faster teams the last two weeks, so it helped us get ready for the teams that are in our conference.”

The Wildcats ran a no-huddle offense throughout the night that seemed to spark an unyielding intensity in the players.  

“We practice a lot faster than we play,” said Sommers.  “We practice with two balls and as soon as a play is over we set the next one down and run the next play right away.”

Sommers stated that during the game they try to play with the same speed they do in practice, which was evident during the matchup.

The Wildcats seemed to be at full speed from the get go.  They were able to score on their first five possessions in the first quarter and take a 40-0 lead into the first half.   

Pennington, in the first half alone, rushed for 95 yards on seven carries while scoring two rushing touchdowns.  He was also 5-of-10 passing for 78 yards with one touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Lane Stanford.  Pennington was also 5-of-8 in extra point attempts.  He contributed on defense with an interception and 5 tackles. Pennington is on the watch list for the Dave Kreig Award which is presented to the state’s top senior quarterback.

Toran Marks, Duke Butler and Michael Tucker all contributed rushing touchdowns in the first half. Tucker finished the night with seventeen carries for 104 yards.

The Wildcat defense matched the relentless attitude of their offense.  The defense contributed five sacks, intercepted a pass and held Dominican to negative rushing yards.  They also recovered two fumbles, one in the end zone for a touchdown by Nicky Hicks.