Wildcats suffer hard Wilson loss, 68-21

Wellman-Union had three great touchdowns Friday night, but unfortunately got trampled on by some Mustangs who scored countless more.

The Wildcats suffered a less-than-ideal Homecoming with a frustrating 68-21 early home loss to the visitors from Wilson.

It didn’t appear to be the ‘Cats’ night almost directly after kickoff. Wilson senior Jordan Guzman ran a full 50 yards on the first play for a Mustang touchdown just 10 seconds into the game, then continued running more and more the next two quarters through failed Wildcat tackle-attempts.

The home team was down 24-0 less than four minutes into the game until Wellman-Union freshman Hunter Walters caught a 19-yard pass from senior Cody Bradley, and they earned a post-touchdown extra point from a pass from Bradley to senior Dallas Walters. They scored again when sophomore Luis Gonzales carried four yards to the end zone, but were still down 38-13 at the end of the first quarter.

Wildcat mistakes and weak defense continued in the second and final quarter. Wilson’s Guzman and Austin Castillo, a senior, kept running touchdowns, and senior Matthew Richardson caught a pass in the end zone. The ‘Cats’ only second-quarter touchdown came when Bradley ran a kickoff-return 38 yards to set up a score for freshman Nathaniel Steiger, who sprinted the remaining five yards to the goal line.

With about two minutes left in the half, a Mustang rushing touchdown sealed the short game through a 45-point-lead "mercy” rule for six-man football.

The ‘Cats had six first downs, to include four rushing, one passing and one by penalty and 24 rushes for 91 total yards at an average of 3.8 yards each. They completed one of six passing attempts for 19 yards and had 110 total offensive yards with 30 plays at an average of 3.7 yards each. They had two penalties for 25 yards and two turnovers and three fumbles with two lost.

The Mustangs had 10 first downs, to include six rushing, three passing and one by penalty and 12 rushes for 238 total yards at an average of 19.8 each. They completed four of four passing attempts for 129 yards and had 367 total offensive yards with 16 plays at an average of 22.9 each. They had one penalty for three yards and had no passes intercepted or fumbles.

Gonzales was the night’s leading rusher with 15 carries for 83 total yards, followed by Steiger with seven rushes for 10 yards. Dallas Walters and Bradley had one each.

Bradley completed one of two passing attempts, the aforementioned 19-yard touchdown. Steiger attempted one pass and sophomore Vincent Tedford attempted three. Hunter Walters had one 19-yard reception.

Gonzales landed one of two post-touchdown kicks for 2 points.

Head coach Roger Chase did not return phone calls from the News as of press time.