After an highly contested fourth quarter, the Cy Woods Wildcats (now 2-3) lost to the Cy Falls Falcons (now 3-2) due to a last minute field goal. The Wildcats took an unusual early lead during the first half with a strong defensive and offensive start, ending the half at 14-7. However, the Falcons came back during the second half to eventually overtake the Wildcats in the last minutes of the fourth quarter. In a very competitive season, this loss is a heavy blow to the Wildcats, sending them back to a losing record with some serious work needed to be done.

The most prominent issue that contributed to the Wildcats’ defeat was their lack of endurance. During the first half, both lines played very well making key plays that significantly contributed to their early lead, but they lost vital momentum going into the second half, especially for the defense. This lead to the Falcons easily slipping through to score repeatedly and prevent the offense from getting very far during their drives. Interestingly, this goes against previous games where the Wildcats usually performed better in the second half than the first. However, the Falcons are also a second half team, making it much more difficult for the Wildcats to score when they usually do. So far, Cy Woods has played against mostly first half teams, allowing them to easily come back in the second half against an already weary team, but this strategy did not work against Cy Falls. The Wildcats need to regain their previous endurance if they want to have future successes against their opponents and learn how to go up against another second half team.

Another problem that plagued the Wildcats was their difficulty to prevent big plays by the Cy Falls offense. Several times, especially during the second half, the Falcons had very long passes and runs that could have been prevented. The Wildcat defense is very good at stopping shorter runs of only a few yards but struggle to stop the long game when it happens. This can partially be contributed to a lack of endurance like what was said earlier, but it can also be contributed to by their issues in defending against long passes throughout the season. The defense needs to learn how to stop a long ball before it even can happen and once it begins. Otherwise, future offensive lines could exploit this and leave them in the dust. If the defense hopes to succeed against strong offensive opponents, they must learn how to prevent and halt the long game.

Despite this loss, there were some things the Wildcats did very well. Improving even further from last week, the offense continued to better establish a passing game and took bigger risks. During the fourth quarter, quarterback Jackson Jones made an incredible 36 yard pass that would help get the Wildcats back on the board. Later on, another attempt was made, and while it was not as successful, ending in an interception, the offense was at least trying and continuing to ameliorate their passing game. Also, the defense had some amazing plays that helped the Wildcats maintain their lead or stay close behind. The blocked field goal during the second quarter is a first for the defense this season and showed their tenacity against a strong offensive line. Hopefully, they can harness this and utilize it throughout the entire game in the future.

With this loss, nobody can be sure how the rest of the season and rankings will unfold. This third loss has definitely caused a shift that could significantly affect the Wildcats’ playoff chances with only four weeks left in the season. However, the Wildcats do have a chance, and in a season like this, it could very possibly happen. This season has been anything but boring for the Wildcats so far, so no one can be sure what could happen. The Cy Woods Wildcats will be facing off against the Cy Lakes Spartans on Saturday, October 21 at 7 p.m. at Cy-Fair FCU Stadium with the intention of another win.