On Thursday night, the Wildcats (now 2-2) were defeated by the Lobos (now 4-0) after a very tense fourth quarter. Against the odds, Cy Woods stayed close behind Langham Creek for most of the game and only lost by a touchdown. The Wildcats had a faltering start but soon recovered against a powerful Lobo offense and defense, ending the half 17-9 in favor of the Lobos. However, in the second half, specifically the fourth quarter, they came back to challenge Langham Creek’s lead and shrinking it significantly. Prior to the game, many were predicting that the Lobos would easily defeat the Wildcats, but the Wildcats proved them wrong and showed their potential as a team. Cy Woods has definitely made some improvements, but work still needs to be done.

One very prevalent issue that the Wildcats encountered was the offensive line’s difficulty to perform well under pressure. Nearly every time the Wildcats scored in any way, it was down to a third or fourth down conversion despite how close they already were to the goal line. They could get good momentum going when driving it toward the end zone but struggled to push through the last few yards. In addition, the offense failed several times to complete a two-point conversion throughout the whole game. Despite failing to get it previously in the game, they continued to try a two-point conversion only to be disappointed again. Of course, these can also be attributed to the strength of the Lobo defense, but this should be expected and adjusted for. Either way, the Wildcat offense needs some work on continuing their momentum from the drive to get it all the way past the goal line.

Another issue was the defense’s struggle against third and fourth down conversions. Multiple times throughout the game, the defensive line forced the Lobo offense to a third or fourth down but would fail to hold them, allowing them to slip past for a first down that could have been prevented. Interestingly, most of the time, these completions were done by rushing instead of passing like it has been in the past. This was a consistent issue during the game that constantly plagued the defense allowing Langham Creek to continue to score. They could have been stopped or at least slowed down if the Wildcat defense prevented them from sneaking through for a first down. Now, this could have just been an off night for the defense since they were having issues defending against rushing.

However, the Wildcats have greatly improved in some areas over the past few weeks. The offense was much better at establishing a passing game with more than a fourth of total offensive yard gains from passing. Along with this, the defense was much better at stopping a passing game. The defense was faster at identifying key wide receivers and disabling them, preventing the offense from doing much passing. The Lobo offense only had 30 passing yards for the whole game thanks to this. Also, there were some incredible plays by the team as a whole from the onside kick to the recovered fumble in the fourth quarter that helped bring the Wildcats so close behind. Still, the Wildcats have their work cut out for them, but they have been making improvements to step up their game.

The Wildcats may have lost this game, but they played it well. Besides some mistakes here and there, Cy Woods really stepped up to the plate against such a powerful team all around. The Wildcats defied expectations and continued to show everyone what they can become. Even though they lost the game, in their own way, Cy Woods did get a little victory by demonstrating that they can compete against fierce opponents.