The Wildcats blazed past Whitman 39-7 in a victory at the Den on Oct. 24, centered around Senior Night and Homecoming. The senior football players concluded their celebration with a statement win at home, paired with a Homecoming win for the WJ community.
The evening began with a pregame ceremony honoring the team’s graduating seniors, celebrating the blood, sweat and tears dedicated to the WJ football program over their four-year careers.
“The seniors paved the path for the next generation. It feels weird, it doesn’t even feel like my senior year is next year. Time truly flies,” junior offensive lineman Eoghan Moreland said.
The game started as senior wide receiver Zaph Abbey returned the opening kickoff to the WJ 47-yard line, setting up excellent field position for the offense. Three plays into the drive, senior quarterback Jake Forburger kept the ball off of a QB keeper, breaking free for a 50-yard rushing touchdown. This put the Wildcats on the board 7-0 while setting the tone early.
Following a productive Wildcat drive, the Vikings fumbled on the following play and the ball was recovered by WJ, allowing the Cats to gain a two-possession lead.
The Wildcats had a drawn-up flea-flicker play up their sleeve. Junior backup quarterback Luke Maynard lined up in motion before the snap, disguising what looked like a standard run. Forburger took the snap and handed it off to senior running back Calvin Johnson, who quickly pitched it back to Maynard streaking across the backfield who tossed a pass to Forburger for the touchdown.
“I knew I had to catch the ball,” Forburger said. “I recognized that they [Whitman] were in man coverage, so I knew that when I caught the ball, I would be wide open.”
After numerous flags on the Wildcat defense, Whitman was able to march down the field to get points on the board. A well-designed play put a deep ball into the Viking receiver’s hands in the front of the endzone.
With ten minutes remaining in the second quarter, Johnson powered in a seven-yard touchdown. Right after Whitman got the ball back, Johnson, now playing defense, forced the ball out of the running back’s hands to give the Wildcats possession back with plenty of time left in the half to score.
The Wildcats dominated offensively the whole game, while their defense kept the Vikings out of the end zone to earn a 39-7 victory.
With the Senior Night festivities behind them, the Wildcats’ focus quickly shifted to what lay ahead: a pivotal road matchup against Blake on Oct. 30 that could determine playoff seeding. For WJ, pulling off a win on the road would take discipline, grit and the same explosive energy that fueled their Senior Night victory.
Both teams opened sluggishly, trading punts on their first drives. With less than four minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Wildcats changed that early theme. Forburger dropped a dime towards the back of the endzone for Abbey to put the Wildcats up 7-0.
“It felt great to score first. We were the underdogs. It felt like we wanted this game more. Their defensive line wasn’t very strong. It opened up gaps for our offense to find the endzone. It allowed Jake [Forburger] a lot more time in the pocket,” Moreland said.
The Bengals’ response was quick as they ripped off an 80-yard touchdown run to even the score 7-7. The rest of the half remained scoreless, and both defenses stood tall to keep the game low-scoring.
Blake opened the second half strong, capitalizing on their first possession with a touchdown to take a 14-7 lead midway through the third quarter. But the Wildcats refused to back down.
A failed onside kick attempt by Blake gave WJ favorable field position to jumpstart the comeback drive. On the fourth play of the drive, Forburger comfortably stepped back into the pocket and sent a floating ball down the sideline to sophomore Wesley Fraser for a 40-yard touchdown, evening the score yet again.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Blake had a chance to reclaim the lead with a field goal, but the attempt sailed wide to the left. With six minutes remaining, the Wildcats regained possession, determined to control the clock and finish strong. The offense methodically drove down to the Bengals’ seven-yard line, setting up a final play with just two seconds left.
Senior Max Fischer stepped up under pressure and drilled the game-winning field goal, sealing a dramatic 17-14 win for WJ.
“I had no doubt that Max would make it,” junior kicker Braxton Thornburgh said. “Pressure never really affected him, and he’s good at forgetting his mistakes quickly.”
With the postseason now underway, the Wildcats aim to carry their momentum into the first round, where they’ll face Northwest, a team that handed them a 41-6 loss earlier in the season. To pull off an upset, WJ will need to dig deep, lean on their leadership and channel the same resilience that has defined their past two wins.
