Varsity falls in last few seconds to Kellogg 20-14
A hard fought football game came down to mere seconds in a contest between the Bonners Ferry Badgers and the Kellogg Wildcats.
From the first kickoff both teams knew they had a challenge in front of them, and both knew they would have to perform at their best. And, what a performance it was.
The first quarter of play was scoreless for both teams as they moved the ball up and down the field. With Christian Trocke at the helm, the ball was given to Jeff Garcia, and Zachary Wilson for the hard earned yardage down field.
The Badger defense stepped up the level of play with crunching tackles that were heard in the press box.
Although the game was scoreless at the end of the first 12 minutes, it was the Badgers who had won the real estate battle. The blue pride had amassed 113 yards rushing and 10 yards passing while holding the Cats to 18 total yards.
In the second quarter the Wildcats started to get the wheels on the ground game picking up solid yards against the Badgers. The Badgers responded with a combination of rushing and passing yards.
At their own 39-yard line, QB Bradley Clausen stepped back in the pocket and sent a pass down the left side of the field intended for Ray Maas, but a Wildcat defender made a nice play by slipping in front of Maas, picking the ball and returning it to the Badger 37.
Two plays later would see the blue pride defense strip the ball from the Cats running back resulting in a fumble that was recovered by Clausen at the Badger 18-yard line.
On the next play Wilson took the handoff and broke to the left side of the field for 15 yards, however a penalty from the spot of infraction took the ball back to the Badger 9-yard line.
The drive stalled and the Badgers had to kick the ball away. Kellogg returned the ball to the Badger 42. Three plays later from the 26, the Cats QB faked a pass and followed his blocks straight up the middle and into the end zone for the first score of the game. The kick for the PAT was good giving the Wildcats the edge at 7-0.
Towards the end of the half the Wildcats had possession of the ball at their own 26.
The QB rolled out to his right, but could not find his receivers. What he did find was Adam Lund bearing down with a dead bead on his destruction. Lund ungraciously sacked the Cat QB for a big play and a 12-yard loss. The Wildcats were forced to punt from their own 14.
The Badgers returned the ball to the Cat’s 21. Four plays later Wilson broke over left tackle to the one yard line behind great blocking. On the next play Clausen followed the block of Gary Brown over the stripe for the TD. The two point conversion by Wilson was good putting the Blue Pride up by one over the Wildcats.
At the half it was the Badgers 8, Wildcats 7.
The Badgers had now tallied 185 yards in total offense to 97 for the Cats. In the second half the Badger defense turned in some very strong plays holding the Cats to only 28 total yards of offense in the third quarter by knocking down passes and stuffing the Wildcat running backs.
The ensuing see-saw battle had each team repeatedly assuming control of the pigskin for most of the remainder of the game. On the Badgers first possession Wilson broke from their own 46 to the Cats 21 for a 33 yard run.
The Badgers could not get into the red zone and again punted back to Kellogg. Isaac Ryckeghem’s punt pinned the Wildcats at their own nine yard line. Again the stalwart defense held and took over at the Cats 35. On the next play Clausen was again intercepted of a pass in the secondary. The give and take was not over yet as on the very next play Wilson intercepted a Wildcat pass at the 42 yard line. The Badgers drove to the Kellogg 15 threatening to score but gave the ball away on a fumble.
The third quarter ended as it started with the Badgers on top of the Cats by a score of 8-7. The Cats had possession of the ball to start the last quarter, and on the third play the Wildcat QB threw down the right sideline to an open receiver for a 53 yard TD.
The PAT kick was good, putting the Cats back on top by a score of 14 to 8.
The Badgers took control of the ball from the Kellogg 47. With Trocke back at the QB spot a handoff was given to Wilson for a 20 yard burst to the 17.
Two plays later would see Wilson power the ball across the stripe for the tie. A QB–center miscue caused the ball to be downed and the two point conversion failed. The score was now 14-14 all.
On the first play after the kickoff the Cats fumbled at their own 26 with Garcia recovering for the Badgers. The Badgers were now within striking distance with just minutes remaining in the game.
After two short run gains, Trocke fired a perfect slant pass to Maas who dragged a defender to the 10-yard line.
On third down Wilson was again called upon to carry the skin to the 4-yard line. On fourth and four Trocke followed his blockers and drove to the two just short of pay dirt.
Kellogg’s defense had held the Badgers away from the end zone and a victory. The Badgers again dug in and were now fighting another enemy, the time clock.
With less than 1:30 in the show remaining the Badgers held the Kellogg team to another three plays and out. The clock was now down to 14 seconds. The Badgers decided to go for the winning tally.
Even if the ball fell incomplete the game would go into overtime. The ball was snapped to Trocke who stepped back in the pocket, found his open receiver and set to pass. A Wildcat defender hit Trocke as he threw causing the ball to shoot straight up in the air.
Both teams struggled to pull in the bouncing ball. However, as time expired, both the players and the Badger fans watched in stunned silence as a Wildcat defender hauled in the interception and ran it back for 69 yards and the game winning score.
The final score was Kellogg 20-Bonners Ferry 14. At the end of the contest the Badgers had totaled 354 yards to the Wildcats 267.
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