In front of a near-capacity crowd on homecoming eve, the Wildcats, who had lost four of their previous five games, defeated the Zion-Benton Zee-Bees, 41-28.
The Wildcat defense, which had given up 99 points in their two previous losses to Lake Forest and Lake Zurich, looked to boost their confidence against a weak Zee-Bees team that came into Friday night's game winless.
From the first series of the game, the Wildcat defense looked solid, with junior linebacker Stephen Skul almost intercepting Zee-Bee quarterback Cole Urban on the first play of the game.The Zee-Bees would be forced to punt.
After a stellar punt return by senior Teddy Kelley, the Wildcats started their first drive of the game at midfield. The Wildcats then proceeded to advance up the field with a healthy mix of passing and running, scoring on a nifty little trick play early in the first quarter.
Schurr took the snap, faked the hand-off to tailback Mackenzie Thurman, and scrambled to his right, finding the endzone along the far sideline, getting the Wildcats on the board.
However, the Wildcats' problems on defense became apparent again on the following drive when Zion-Benton running back Artavius Nixon weaved through the Wildcat defense along the far side, and went all the way to the hosue for a 74-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7.
The Wildcats would respond shortly there after, when Schurr and the Wildcats receivers marched down field, setting Schurr up for his second rushing touchdown of the night.
The Zee-Bees then took control of the ball midway through the first, taking up most of the rest of the quarter with a drive down the field that led to sophomore Alex Pasiewicz's 3-yard rushing touchdown, tying the game at 14.
The two teams would then exchange long drives and touchdowns in the second quarter, with Zion-Benton's diverse offense giving the Wildcat defense problems throughout.
Responding to the problems on defense, the Wildcats made some substantial changes in the second quarter when Defensive Coordinator Mike Jones moved offensive lineman Brady Schmidt to the defensive line and put Schurr back in the secondary. Sophomore Alex Carlino also saw some time on the defensive line.
The new-look Wildcat defense did not let up any points for the remainder of the half.
The Wildcats ended the half on a positive note when junior Max Ebert intercepted Zee-Bee quarterback Tyler Urban's pass with 12 seconds left in the half. They would also add another Schurr running touchdown before the half ended, giving them a 28-21 lead.
The WIldcat offense came out firing on all cylindars to start the third quarter. Sophomore running back Brian Swift took a hand off from Schurr, and with the tail back, Thurman, leading the way, picked his way through the Zee-Bee defense for a huge 30-yard run. However, the Wildcats could not convert off of Swift's run, and they would punt the ball on fourth down later in the drive.
Zion-Benton would then score a touchdown on the drive following the Swift run, putting the score all tied again at 28.It that was the last time the Zee-Bees would be able to create any substantial offense til late in the game when the Zee-Bees were deep in Wildcat territory threating to cut the Wildcat lead down to seven points.
"Our intensity as a team kinda went down towards the end of the game. but we picked it up," Schurr said.
The Zee-Bee's quarterback Urban dropped back into the pocket on fourth and long, surveying the field, but right as Urban went to release the ball, defensive tackle Alex Carlino found Urban and dropped him down to the ground, sealing the victory for the Wildcats.
The WIldcats' next game takes place Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Round Lake.
photo by Sarah Hombach