The Wildcats kicked off the season with an important win against their close county rivals BCC. The football team had been questioned on whether they’d win this season opener, but they made a statement with this impressive victory, the first for new head coach Aaron Fiddler.

WJ struggled to get in a rhythm early on as they had to punt on the first drive after a few first-down pickups. B-CC had the Wildcats defense scrambling as they marched down the field scoring a touchdown on a very well-executed drive. After more unsuccessful attempts on offense for both teams, the first quarter came to an end with the Barons leading 7-0.

Precisely as the Wildcats needed a momentum shift, the team had their answer as senior quarterback Charlie Blessing connected to senior wide receiver Reid Wisniewski on an important third down pickup keeping the drive alive. Blessing then converted on a quarterback sneak to put WJ on the board in the second quarter.

“It was the catalyst we needed to get the train up and running,” Blessing said.

Following a B-CC penalty, the Wildcats then opted to try for a two-point conversion in which they ran a nicely schemed play action boot play, resulting in a Blessing to junior wide receiver Lloyd Erim connection to put the Cats ahead 8-7.

Scoring had rejuvenated the Cat’s defense after allowing a first drive touchdown, as they got an important third down stop forcing B-CC to punt it away. The offense was now rolling with a 30-yard completion again to Wisniewski putting the Wildcats into opposing territory. Sophomore running back Dylan Byrd then bursted through the BCC defense on the following play for a 45-yard touchdown.

“The offensive line did a very good job of blocking, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them,” Byrd said.

Junior kicker Seth Stein followed the touchdown by converting the extra point attempt, bringing the score to 15-7. Shortly after, the kickoff was fumbled by B-CC as the ball took a couple of bounces ending up in the Cats’ hands giving them great field positioning.

Following a nice 15-yard grab by senior wide receiver Nick Zayas, senior wide receiver Daniel Kenvo grabbed the ball over the B-CC defender in the endzone for the score. The extra point attempt by Stein was no good leaving the score at 21-7. The Barons had slippery hands this game as they fumbled back-to-back kickoffs giving the Wildcats possession once again. With only 22 seconds remaining, there wasn’t much that could have been done on offense, as a prayer throw by Blessing with the clock winding down was intercepted to end the half effectively.

Coming out of the break, both teams seemed to have slowed down offensively as there were no scores throughout the entire quarter. The Barons came close as they reached the Wildcats one yard line, but could not punch in the football.

“It was a huge stop for the team, it came at a point where the game could have gone either way, so it was crucial we won that drive,” junior Jonny Fisher said.

Moving into the fourth quarter the score was still perched at 21-7 Wildcats. The Barons did not quit as sophomore running back Lucas Scribner reached the end zone with a 14-yard touchdown bringing the score to 21-14 with less than 90 seconds remaining in the game. Walter Johnson failed to run the game clock out, as the Barons earned a prime chance to tie and send the game into overtime. Early in the drive, Fisher got a hand on the football and tipped a pass up into the sky, as senior David Pitsenberger grabbed the crucial interception to seal the deal, pushing the Walter Johnson Wildcats to a 1-0 record.

The Wildcats will open at home this week as they play Richard Montgomery in what should be a competitive game.