Despite a gallivant effort, the Wild Rose Wildcats lost the Oct. 8 Homecoming game, 28-14, to the Pittsville Panthers.
Pittsville deferred the opening kickoff to Wild Rose. The hosts began moving the ball with a completed pass to Brett Mueller for 9 yards. Another pass completion gained big yardage, but it was all for naught due to a penalty. The Wildcats were soon to punt.
Pittsville had similar results with its first possession. Aiden Kolar picked up good yardage for the visitors, but a loss of yardage and a penalty shortened the drive. Wild Rose’s second possession was fruitful, beginning with a 7-yard run by Ethan Tratz. Mueller soon took a pass from Brett Wilbert for an 11-yard gain. That was soon to be followed by a pass completion to Evan Tratz who broke a tackle on his way of scampering 60 yards to the end zone. An Eddie McCardell PAT gave the Wildcats a 7-0 lead with 2;17 remaining in the opening period.
Pittsville’s second possession was shortened despite a 12-yard run from Kolar. Dominik Forbush stopped the visitors with a loss of yardage, and they were soon to be punting.
Not much could happen for Wild Rose in what little remained in the first quarter.
The second quarter had the Wildcats moving the ball with a 5-yard pass to Mueller, a 7-yard pass to Joey Button, and a 6-yard run by Ethan Tratz. Progress would end up being stopped, allowing the Panthers to start out on their own 43 yard line.
Kolar would take Pittsville on a scoring drive with a few big runs, including a 35-yarder to the end zone. A 2-point conversion by Kaden Schiller gave the visitors an 8-7 lead with 7:59 remaining in the first half.
Wild Rose answered with another scoring drive of its own, beginning with a big kick return by Ethan Tratz to the Wildcat 37. A 62-yard strike soon made its way to Evan Tratz to score. A McCardell PAT put the hosts back up 14-8 with 6:45 yet to play in the half with some fog rolling across the field.
Pittsville responded with a drive beginning on its own 46. Kolar got off a big run before the Wild Rose defense slowed the Panthers up. But, a Wild Rose penalty on a Pittsville pass completion kept the visitors drive alive. The Panthers arrived at the Wildcat 5, then the 1. From there a score was realized with a QB keeper. A 2-point conversion put Pittsville back up 16-14 with 3:52 remaining in the half.
Wild Rose appeared to have something cooking with a final possession of the half as Joey Button returned the kick 8 yards to the Wildcat 42. A pass to Mueller was good for 10 yards, and another to Ethan Tratz for 5 yards (with a couple penalties mixed in). A pass to Sam Ramker was good for 6 yards on a 4th + 5 situation. Ramker soon caught another pass for 15 yards. Just when things were looking good, an interception ended the Wild Rose drive.
Kolar gave the visitors a 10-yard run. Dylan Luther carried the ball a short distance to run out the clock.
Halftime arrived with music by the high school pep band, and the Homecoming court was announced. The winners of Spirit week with the theme being Hollywood Premieres were the seniors.
The teams had just one possession each in the third quarter, beginning with Pittsville. The visitors started off with relatively short gains, but an offsides penalty gave them a 1st down. Short gains came again, but the drive was slowed up with an offensive penalty before Kolar came up with a big run.
Wild Rose ended starting a drive from its own approximate 10 yard line. After a couple of yardage losses, a 13-yard pass was completed to Ramker, just short of a 1st down. A false start put the hosts in a punting situation, but the punt was faked. Ethan Tratz ran 11 yards for a 1st down, keeping the drive alive. Ramker caught a pass for 5 yards, and a few short runs later another 1st down was achieved. Jonah Williams ran for 8 yards, and the quarter ended with an offsides penalty.
The Wildcats didn’t possess the ball long as the fourth quarter began with an offensive penalty. A short pass competition was followed by a sack, and the hosts were forced to punt.
Pittsville’s first possession of the quarter included a number of runs by Kolar to keep the Panthers moving. A major run to the Wildcat 24 meant the visitors were threatening, but were slowed up. A touchdown was achieved, but a 2-point conversion attempt was no good, leaving the Panther with 22-14 lead with 5:54 remaining in the game.
Ethan Tratz returned the ensuing kick to the 26. His brother Evan caught a pass for 5 yards, but that was all the offense Wild Rose could muster.
Pittsville’s next possession involved a very short field, at the Wild Rose 20. After a fairly short gain, Kolar raced around to the end zone to score again for the Panthers. Again the 2-point conversion failed, but the visitors still possessed a 28-14 advantage with 3:11 left in the game.
Wild Rose had to move quickly if any more scoring was to be realized. A 12-yard pass was completed to Ramker, 15-yard pass to Mueller, and a 43-yard pass to Ethan Tratz had the Wildcats at the Pittsville 13. A couple incomplete passes and a sack later, the hosts were at 4th + 17. A 15-yard pass was completed to Mueller who fell short at the Panther 15.
Pittsville took over possession and ran a few short plays. A big gain came in the final few seconds, icing the 28-14 victory for the visitors.
Wild Rose ended up with a respectable 346 total yards of offense, 297 coming through the air. Brett Wilbert completed 22 of 31 passes with 2 TDs, and 1 interception.
Evan Tratz caught 3 passes for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns. Brett Mueller caught 11 passes for 64 yards, while Sam Ramker caught 5 passes for 1 yards, and Ethan Tratz 2 passes for 48 yards.
Ethan Tratz had 12 carries for 35 of the 49 rushing yards.
Out of the 11 players registering tackles in the game, Ethan Tratz and Clayton Manske totaled served each.
