Widdifield Wildcats blow away Vikings

Wildcats star running back Wylie Phillips is brought down by a Sudbury Lockerby Viking tackler in the second half. Photo by Chris Dawson.

The Widdifield Wildcats jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter lead and added 18 unanswered points in the second half to blow out the Lockerby Vikings 32-8 in the NOSSA Sr. Football semi-final Saturday afternoon at Widdifield S.S.

The Wildcats got on the board around the midway point of the first quarter when Jason Ethier hit Kory Crawford for a TD catch to put the Wildcats on the board first. Late in the first quarter the Cats added to their lead as Jason Ethier called his own number and scored on a 17 yard touchdown run to put the Wildcats up 14-0 with a minute to play in the first quarter.

For Wildcats coach Sean Mullan, the early lead helped the North Bay high school set the tone in the NOSSA semi-final.

“It was very important to come out and gain some momentum,” Mullan said about the early lead.

However, the Vikings rebounded in the second quarter as Vikings quarterback Brett Mcknight scored on a 2 yard touchdown run and with the extra point the Vikings were within a touchdown.

The Knights continued their strong play driving down the field late in the 2nd quarter but were unable to convert on a 20 yard field goal, settling for a single point to make it 14-8 at half time. It was a lead that appeared a little too close for Wildcat comfort.

“As a coaching staff we were nervous at half time,” said Mullan.

“They were taking it to us, they are a big physical team and one score difference at half time we knew we needed to come out in the second half and play our game.”

The Wildcats did play their game in the second half. They increased their lead about 10 minutes into the second half as Andrew Mills hit a 20 yard field goal to make the score 17-8.

In the fourth quarter the Wildcats put the nail in the Vikings coffin when Jason Ethier hit running back Jesse Bethune on a dump pass and run for a touchdown. With the Andrew Mills convert it gave the home side a huge 24-8 lead.

The Wildcats continued to dominate in the final quarter driving down the field and finishing off with another Jason Ethier touchdown strike, this one to Adam Courvoisier with 2:44 left in the game to make it 31-8.

An undisciplined foul after the touchdown by the Vikings lead to another point as kicker Andrew Mills kicked off near the 35 yard line of the Vikings on the ensuing kickoff and he easily booted it through the end zone for the final extra point making it 32-8.

The Wildcats now have a week to prepare for most likely their toughest opponent of the year, the St. Mary’s Knights from Sault Ste. Marie. The defending NOSSA champions went unbeaten during the regular season and through the playoffs and were given a bye to the Northern Ontario championship game next Saturday in North Bay.