Wildcat Football Team Captures First Place Win

In an encounter for first place in the Midwest Classic Conference North Saturday at , the USM football team defeated Living Word Lutheran 39-19 to move into first place. The victory also assured the Wildcats a spot in the WIAA post-season playoffs.

USM’s head coach Brain Sommers summed up his reaction to the Wildcats’ win, “I am very happy for the boys and all the hard work they put in this week. We were prepared for this, and the guys were able to execute the plan. They played with passion and effort all day long and beat the number two-ranked team in the state.  Our defense did a great job containing a very potent offense, and our offense did a fabulous job of winning the time of possession.” 

USM’s defense began the game by stopping the Timberwolves’ first possession in three plays and forcing them to punt. Then the Wildcats’ offense went to work.

After a first play incomplete pass, the Wildcats ran the ball for 13 straight plays, gaining 61 hard-earned yards. USM’s senior quarterback Tommy Pennington then threw a pass to senior Duke Butler for 11 yards to put the Wildcats on the Living Word Lutheran 3-yard line.  Junior Toran Marks then broke a tackle and ran the ball over for a touchdown.  Pennington kicked the point after and with 5:51 left in the first quarter USM had a 7-0 lead. 

The USM defense stood firm on Living Word Lutheran’s next possession, forcing the Timberwolves to turn the ball over once again. 

Pennington then engineered an eleven-play drive resulting another touchdown.  The drive included the first of two gutsy play calls by Sommers and his staff.  With the ball on the Living Word Lutheran 43 yard line The Wildcats faced a fourth down with 16 yards to go.  Instead of kicking, the Wildcats went for it. Pennington completed a 36-yard pass to sophomore Austin Heun to put USM on the Timberwolves 7-yard line.  Marks then ran the ball for five yards and scored on a 2-yard run on the following play.  The extra point attempt failed, but USM held a 13-0 lead at 11:13 in the second quarter.

The Timberwolves realized that the USM defense had stopped their running game in their first two drives, so they immediately went to the air.  Senior quarterback Ben Rennicke threw a 5-yard pass to sophomore Kurt Janetske, an 8 yarder to junior Cameron Olson and a 24 yard pass and a 19 yard pass to senior Benjamin Werner during the drive.  Rennicke then ran the ball in from 1 yard out. Werner kicked the extra point to make it 13-7 at 7:59.

USM’s next drive went nowhere and Pennington punted. The Timberwolves then committed the first of two devastating turnovers.  Butler recovered a fumble at the Living Word Lutheran 28-yard line.

Within five plays USM had another touchdown. A blatant pass interference penalty on Living Word Lutheran on USM’s first play gave the Wildcats the ball at the Timberwolves’ 13. A 4-yard run by senior Kenny Servis, a 7-yard gain by Marks, and a 2-yard touchdown by Servis gave USM a 19-7 lead at half time.

The Wildcats went three and out after the second half kick off. The Timberwolves quickly scored their next six points. Rennicke ran the ball for 28 yards and Cameron Werner then ran the ball over from 25 yards out.

The momentum could have shifted, but the Wildcats made sure it didn’t on their next drive. They marched the ball own the field and burned minutes on the clock that would have been valuable to the Timberwolves. Using one nine yard pass from Pennington to Butler and several short runs by Marks, Servis, and senior Cameron Niazi, the Wildcats scored another TD on a 4-yard cut back run by Servis.  Pennington kicked the extra point and USM had a 20 point lead with only 4:37 left in the third quarter.

The USM defense maintained the Wildcats’ momentum by forcing the Timberwolves to punt on their next drive. USM then ran off more precious minutes on the clock with 8 short running plays. The Wildcats then faced another fourth down at the Living Word Lutheran 39 yard line. Instead of another running play, USM confidently called a pass play. Pennington threw pass to senior Lane Stanford along the left sideline, and Stanford galloped across the goal line untouched for another USM score, one that crushed the Timberwolves’ hopes.

On the first play from scrimmage on its next possession, Living Word Lutheran made another costly error. Stanford intercepted a pass to give USM the ball once more. 

USM made an error itself on the following drive, but senior Marsalis McGhee recovered the fumble to keep USM’s momentum.  Several running plays later Marks scored his third TD on a 6-yard run and USM had a wide lead at 39-13. 

With time running out, the Timberwolves managed to get one more score when Rennicke ran the ball over from the 1-yard line to complete a 55-yard drive at 4:44 of the fourth quarter.

The victory gave USM a 4-2 overall record and a record of 4-0 in the conference. The loss was the first for the number 2 ranked Timberwolves. Living Word Lutheran is now 5-1 and 3-1 in the conference. The Wildcats’ play a non-conference game at Burlington Catholic Central at 2 p.m. on Saturday.