Defense, Ground Game Lead 'Cats To Win Over Midway

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The Wildcats used 402 yards on the ground, 188 of those coming from Josh Harvath, and another stifling performance from the defense to roll past Midway, 40-7 on Friday night, keeping their record unblemished at 8-0.

Harvath scored on a 1-yard run in the opening period and a Logan Gemes point-after-try made it 7-0, in favor of the Wildcats at the end of the first quarter.

The 'Cats rallied for three more scores in the second quarter; another 1-yard plunge by Harvath, a 9-yard run by Jayce Depriest and a 3-yard run by Harvath to lead 27-0 at the halftime break.

"We were forced to make some slight adjustments, but nothing our kids couldn't handle," 'Cats head coach Ryan Boyer said. "Besides that, we really did a pretty good job of sticking to the game plan."

A 4-yard touchdown run by quarterback Garrett Ferguson in the third quarter made the score 33-0 and another nice 20-yard touchdown run by Depriest in the fourth frame got the clock ticking at 40-0.

With starters resting for the Green and Black, the Midway varsity put up a late score to make the final, 40-7, all Wildcats.

"This was a good team win," Boyer commented. "This team does a good job of focusing on the plan for each week and executing that plan."

The Warsaw rushing attack ran to the tune of 402 yards, led by Harvath who posted 188 on just 17 carries. He also recorded 3 touchdowns on the ground.

Ferguson rushed for 129 yards on 16 attempts with 2 scores and also finished 2 for 4 passing for 30 yards with 1 interception.

Depriest added 87 yards on 10 carries with 1 rushing TD and 1 fumble. He also caught 1 ball out of the backfield for 21 yards.

Shane Poyser was on the receiving end of Ferguson's only other completion for 9 yards.

The Warsaw defense continued to give yet another opponent fits by holding the Vikings to just 107 total yards; 81 passing and just 26 on the ground.

Drake Murrell paced the 'Cats with 6 tackles with 2 quarterback sacks. Noah Siebert tallied 5.5 tackles, Jase Hubert had 3.5 and Depriest contributed 3.0 with 1 sack of the Midway quarterback.

Gemes finished his night 4 of 5 on PAT's. His miss in the second quarter on a blocked try broke his streak of 23 straight by the senior kicker.

The Wildcats will be back on the road for their regular season finale when they travel to Pleasant Hope this Friday night for a 7:00 PM kickoff.

Like always, that game will also be able to be seen on BCE TV with Matt Dove, Drew Burdick and Adam Howe as your broadcast team.

The Class 2 tournament will begin on November 1. The district championship game will be on November 15.