by Matt MacKenzie ’18
The Saint Ignatius Wildcats faced a must win game, on Saturday afternoon from Byers Field. In order to clinch a playoff berth, the ‘Cats needed to beat Saint Xavier and Saint Edward. The Bombers were their first task, and the Wildcats completed that task to perfection. Led by a resilient defense, the Wildcats defeated the Saint Xavier Bombers by a score of 34-20 and brought the Cannon Bell back to Saint Ignatius.
The game started off with special teams leaving their mark. The Wildcats were forced to punt on their first possession, which led to a blocked punt by the Saint Xavier special teams core. On the first play from scrimmage, Pete Rumpke ran it in for a 23 yard touchdown to make it 7-0. The Bombers weren’t done there. Nick Arcuri nailed a 51 yard field goal, to make it 10-0. Saint Xavier dominated the first quarter and would be threatening to score again, as we headed to the second quarter trailing 10-0.
The second quarter appeared to be more of the same at first sight. Connor Marciag connected on a field goal to make it 13-0 in favor of Saint Xavier. The Wildcat offense would soon come alive, in the later moments of the quarter. Ben Cray sacked Notre Dame commit Sean Clifford, forcing the Bombers to punt. The punt was downed at the Saint Xavier 40 yard line. Dennis Grosel would take advantage of the short distance between the ‘Cats and the end zone.
Grosel found Tyler Musbach near the sideline, who then broke a tackle and ran the ball to the three yard line. Elijah Wahib would do the rest on the next play, as he scored from three yards out making it 13-7. Following another fourth down stop, the offense led a drive down the field. It appeared that Jack Cook got a foot in for a touchdown, but the referees ruled it incomplete. Depending on the PAT, the Wildcats could have been leading going into the half. Instead, Matt Trickett capped it off with a field goal making it 13-10 with 1:04 to go before the half. This score would take us to halftime.
Saint Xavier would receive to start the half, but found themselves punting after just three plays. The offense took over at the Bomber 42 yard line and made the most of it. After narrowly missing a touchdown pass to Jack Cook, Dennis Grosel found Cal Grbac for a touchdown to give the Wildcats a 17-13 lead. This would be their first lead of the afternoon. Saint Ignatius would build on this, as another stellar offensive drive led to a Matt Trickett field goal. That would make it 20-13 in favor of the ‘Cats.
The Bombers faced a short third down, when Pete Rumpke escaped from the pile and ran it all the way to the Wildcats’ 35 yard line. Ben Cray made a touchdown saving tackle. That tackle would prove to be significant, as Nate Keirn sacked Clifford, for the third time. This sack pushed the Bombers out of field goal range and gave the Wildcats the ball off of a punt. Saint Ignatius’ offensive possession was capitalized by a Jimmy Andrews long run into opposing territory. Dennis Grosel would extend the lead on a short touchdown run to give the Wildcats a 27-13 lead with 0:28 seconds to go in the third quarter. That would be the score heading into the final quarter of play.
The way that the fourth quarter would play out, would decide the Wildcats’ playoff hopes. Let’s just say that Wildcat fans left with a smile on their face. A strange turn of events occurred following Keirn’s sack of Sean Clifford. A punt muffed by Jack Cook bounced into the end zone. Saint Xavier jumped on it and thought they had scored a touchdown. The referees conferred and ruled it a touchback instead, and the Wildcats would take over on their own 20 yard line.
The Wildcats were in business on the possession, but an Andrew Homer sack pushed the ‘Cats back and eventually forced them to punt. Fast forward in the quarter, the Bombers were threatening near midfield but had to go for it on 4th down. Clifford threw to his tight end, and Jack Cook made a big tackle, creating a turnover on downs. This gave Saint Ignatius the ball back with the clock on their side. After a punt with a little under three minutes to play, Jack Cook came up with the game clinching play. He intercepted Clifford’s pass taking it the distance for a pick six, extending the Wildcats’ lead to 34-13. At this point, the Wildcats had scored 34 unanswered points against the Bombers.
Sean Clifford scored a quarterback rush touchdown with two seconds to play, making it 34-20. Dennis Grosel would take the knee and send the Wildcats into a Halloween afternoon battle with their archrival Saint Edward, needing a win to send them to the playoffs.
Once again, the Wildcats defeat the Bombers 34-20 to keep their playoff hopes alive and bring the Cannon Bell back to Saint Ignatius.
