Midget Silver won convincingly at home against Tuckahoe Blue 21-6 in front of an enthusiastic homecoming crowd. Team captains were Scott Martin, Rob Dickinson, and Carter Franklin. Matt Robinson is still on the injured reserve list, but he again showed up to support his team. Scott Tolson was ill and could not play. And Eric Krash was involved in a freak pogo stick accident prior to the game and could not play.

The Cats dominated this game from the outset. The offense took the opening kickoff and marched down the field behind the strong offensive line of Carter Franklin, Ed Hannum, Matthew Edwards, Scott Laabs (who had injured his ankle earlier in the week but still toughed it out), Bryan Rohlfing, and Brennan Tyler, and 4 Back Christopher Daylor. Running backs Charlie Forbes and Ben Crouch punched through the Tuckahoe defensive line for sizeable gains. Quarterback Christopher Copeland continued his passing mastery by passing to ends Kevin Buran, Chess Martine and Parker Tuck. Ultimately, Copeland hit Buran down the left sideline for a 20 yard touchdown to go up 6-0.

The defense responded. The defensive front of ends Ryan Burgess, Jake Boykin, and Marshall Weakley, and down linemen Kurt Dieringer, Ryan Saltz, Alex Burton, and Tristan Gay were able to get penetration into the Tuckahoe backfield. Linebackers Rob Dickinson, Patrick Gallagher, and Christian Norton added valuable pursuit, along with defensive backs Patrick Cole, Scott Martin, Blake Louthan, and Collin Mitchell. On third down, Burton broke through and caused a fumble, which was recovered by Dickinson.

The Cats took the ball and moved it right down the field for another score, with Copeland again hitting Buran down the left sideline for a 20 yard touchdown pass. The PAT pass to Martine was good, making the score 14-0. The Cats then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and again marched down the field, using the strong running of Crouch and Forbes. A pass to Tuck brought the ball down to the 8 yard line, where Crouch then punched it over for the touchdown. Copeland then rolled around right end for the PAT to make the score 21-0. The Cats surrendered a second half touchdown to the Tomahawks to make the final score 21-6.

Offensive awards were presented to the entire offense, and defensive awards were presented to the entire defense. Special recognition awards went to: Buran, Copeland and Crouch for the touchdowns; to Burton and Dickinson for the fumble recovery; and also to Cole and Martin for their fierce defensive play. The black jersey was awarded to Scott Martin for his hard hit on the kickoff.

This Saturday, Midget Silver travels to Virginia Randolph to play Blue Star.

The Wildcats received the opening kick-off and began their offensive drive from their own 18-yard line. The offensive line, led by the blocking of Jack Messer, Harrison Claud, Gary LeClair, Rich Foley, Philip Riley, Hunter Broome, Reed Patterson, Andrew Hendrix, and Zach Mihalko, battled fiercely with the stubborn Rebel’s defense. The Rebels were prepared and made it difficult for the Wildcats to establish a successful offensive campaign. After a couple of first-downs, the JV was forced to punt. Adam Blankenship took the snap and blasted a beautiful 30-yard spiraling punt deep into Rebel territory. The Rebels took over and on second-down, Andre Cable, John Stadler and Harrison Claud smashed the Rebel’s QB, causing a fumble, quickly recovered by Cable on the 12-yard line. On first-down, Wildcats’ QB Brian Giangiulio, baffled the Rebel’s defense with a crafty call, and the speedy Russell Harper "juked" his way untouched into the Rebel’s end zone. The successful two-point conversion pass-attempt by Giangiulio to Tyler Lane gave the Wildcats an 8-0 lead to end the first quarter.

The remainder of the first half was dominated by the Wildcats’s offensive efforts, but they were unable to sustain a long drive and score.

After kicking off to the Rebels to start the second half, the defense stayed on the field for all but one minute of the 3^rd quarter. In the blistering hot afternoon, the JV’s defense, led by Bart Farinholt, Andrew Cable, Philip Riley, Harrison Claud, Hunter Broome, Russell Harper, John Stadler, Trey White, Alec Moore, Tyler Lane, Adam Blankenship, Peter Partee, George Moore, Jamie Wheeler, Matt Valentine, Brandt Tullidge and the much needed return of Alex Newsome, combined an all out effort to keep the Rebel’s scoreless.

In the fourth quarter, the Wildcats obtained possession on their 30-yard line. With 2^nd and 8, Russell Harper took the handoff and scampered down the right sideline for a forty-five yard gain to the 25-yard line of Mechanicsville. On the next play, Bart Farinholt turned on the "after burners" and sprinted 25 yards into the end zone to make the score 14 – 0. The conversion attempt failed.

The Rebels took the kick-off on their 30-yard line and tried to head down the sideline where the runner was "introduced" abruptly to Hunter Broome and Tyler Lane with a bone-crushing stop. With third down and long yardage, Mechanicsville attempted a pass which was intercepted by George Moore and returned for five yards. T he Rebels got the ball back with two minutes left in the game and managed a wide sweep to score and convert to make the score

14 – 8. The onside kick-off attempt failed, and the Wildcats secured the win by running out the clock.

The combined efforts of the total team chalked up another win for the Maroon JV. Welcome back Alex Newsome! Go Cats! Beat Ashland!

A dominant effort from start to finish! Midget Varsity cruised past the Virginia Randolph Rams 20-0 to remain undefeated. A balanced offensive attack totaled 184 yards, 115 on the ground and 69 through the air. Quarterback Jake McGee completed 4 of 7 passes for 69 yards, including a 19 yard touchdown strike to Michael Tuohey in the 1st quarter and a 40 yard bomb for a touchdown to Andrew Giangiulio in the 3rd quarter. Patrick Scoggin had 2 catches, including a 2 point conversion. Giangiulio led the rushing attack with 32 yards. Jake McGee added 20, Cole Knapp 20, Travis Lane 16 and Jake Lee 14.

Other backs posting positive yards were Matt Zeidman, Elliot Call, Andrew Rohlfing, and David Dwyer. Carter Byars also had positive yards including a 2 yard touchdown run in the 2nd quarter. The offensive line manhandled the Ram defense. Opening big holes for the Wildcat running attack were Jeffery Ackerman, Matthew Ogburn, Austin Trent, Fletcher Lumpkin, Patrick Scoggin, David Dwyer, Jake Ragsdale, Cole Knapp, Michael Tuohey and Carter Slough.

The most dominant defense in the league continued its march to the championship. The Wildcats held the Ram offense to -22 yards for the game. The Rams had no 1st downs for the game. The Cat defense forced 5 fumbles. Eric Tucker led the team in recoveries with 2. Fletcher Lumpkin, Nolan Borzelleca, Jake Ragsdale and Nick Adams also picked up loose balls. Travis lane was a beast on defense with 8 tackles. Steven Stites added 6 as well as an interception in the 3rd quarter. Carter Slough consistently kicked the ball deep, and the defensive line played smash mouth football. Defensive lineman included Travis Lane, Nolan Borzelleca, Vince Oley, Eric Tucker, Fletcher Lumpkin, Matthew Brock, Nick Adams and Andrew Rohlfing. Other players making tackles for the Cats were Jake McGee, Mason LaClair, Carter Byars, Drew Massengill, Andrew Giangiulio, Chris Johnson, Vince Oley, and Jake Lee. For the season, the Cats have 3 shutouts, 10 fumble recoveries and 8 interceptions while allowing just 13 yards per game.

Our next game is huge as we host the Glen Lea Lions at home. We know that the awesome Midget Varsity cheering squad and the enthusiastic fans will inspire us to another victory. See you at the game!

Juniors stand tall showing their determination to get back on the winning side of things. They were led by very determined defensive play that bent, but did not break and an offense that again put their helmets down and drove on to a 13– 0 victory.

The Wildcats traded possession with the Rams on outstanding defensive plays by Kyle Dolan and Trey Haddon. Unable to move the ball on their first two possessions, the Rams elected to punt. Blake Jackson did a fine job on both punt returns to give the Wildcats good field position.

With less than two minutes to go in the first half, Jared Preston picked off the Rams’ pass, giving the Wildcats a first and ten on the Rams 17-yard line. The Rams broke up a Jeff Gill pass to the end zone. On the very next play, behind outstanding pass blocking, Jeff threw a nice pass to Jared Preston for a 17-yard touchdown. The Wildcats held a 6–0 half time lead.

Again the Rams were unable to mount any offense against a very tough Wildcat defense. The Wildcat offense took the ball in the fourth quarter looking to put the game out of reach. They moved the ball down the field with good hard blocking and running. On a first down play from the Rams, 20 Jeff Gill hit Hunter Christian for a 20-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was converted, giving the Wildcats a 13 – 0 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, the Rams found out what it meant to be Zebulized by Zeb Williams. The Rams took the ball from their own 20 and drove to the Wildcats 8-yard line. On the last play from scrimmage, the Rams were denied the end zone by the outstanding play of the Wildcat defense.

The juniors look forward to continuing their winning way against Glen Lea this coming weekend. Thanks to the guys on the injured reserve list for their support and hope they are back in the lineup very soon. Special thanks go to Andrew Phillips for his fine job of calling the game this week. Go Wildcats.

The Goochland Bulldogs came down Rt.6, crossed the swamp, and marred a great day for Homecoming.

Coach Partee and crew put on a great show for the crowd. After some difficulty with the ground game in the first quarter, Coaches Melnick and Tripp opt to let 14- Chirag Challa air the ball out. Challa connects with 33- Carter Wood late in the second quarter for a pair of screen passes that gained 24 yards. He hit 79- Keith Wells for a gain of 8 yards as the half ended. The Wildcat line, 80-Greg Robson,72-Andy Hogue, 71-Evan Withrow,75-Brooks Slotterback and 61-Jack Carrigan held the Bulldogs at bay so Challa could go to work.

The Wildcats end the half down 6 pts, but the score does not tell the Wildcat "D" story. Great tackles were abundant in this contest. 12- Zack Pickett had 2, 16-Carter Neal recovered a fumble, had 2 tackles, one a show stopper in the Bulldog backfield with help from 91-Richard Schweikert. 32-Jon Richardson had a pair of take downs while 64-Ruben Levins, 29-Ryan Phillips (mean tackle), 60-Christian Bernard, 66-Bryce Tripp and 28-Alex Smith each walk away with a tackle in the record book.

No score in the third quarter., but there were new faces showing up with great efforts. 74-Paul Cousins, 75- Brooks Slotterback, 48-Alex Thompson, 8-Gates Deppner get to body slam while 28-Alex Smith and 75-Brooks Slotterback pick up a couple of fumbles.

Fourth quarter. Wildcats drive down inside Bulldog 20. 14-Challa takes off outside, breaks a tackle, and makes a 16 yard run for a touchdown. Wildcats miss the PAT and we’re tied at 6. The Bulldogs’ offense make a couple of longshot plays and score their second T-D. 60-Christian Bernard ends their hope for a PAT with a superb tackle.

The games true highlight goes to 48-Alex Thompson with a 35 yard kickoff return. This just before the WC defense goes back to work. 16-Carter Neal pushes the Bulldogs back with a pair of tackles and 60-Christian Bernard grabs a ‘dog in the end zone for a safety.

And that’s the way it ends. Wildcats-8, Bulldogs-12. See you at Varina on the 19^th at 3:00pm (get there time)

Despite the Loss, Flags Had a "Ball" At Homecoming!

Happy Face will return to Byrd on Tuesday, October 15, 2002 at 5:30 p.m. to retake any photos that were unsatisfactory or for make-up photos. Please mark your calendars.

The deadline for submitting ads in the yearbook has been extended to the end of practice on Thursday, October 17^th. Ads will be accepted at the concession stand or, when open, by the sign at the edge of the fields and parking lots that reads, "Yearbook ads here." Jump out of your car when you drop off or pick up your child to submit ads. Otherwise, give them (and the appropriate fee) to your team parent by next Thursday the 17^th. Forms can me found at the back of today’s newsletter, at the concession stand, or by the "Yearbook" sign.