On Friday night, the Cy Woods Wildcats (now 4-4) soared past the Cy Creek Cougars (now 4-4) to win the game 59-29. The Wildcats quickly blazed a major lead over the Cougars in the first half, ending it with a score of 42-7. In the second half, the Cougars attempted a comeback, but the Wildcats successfully stopped them from overtaking their lead. This comes as a vital game for the Wildcats in the final two weeks of the regular season as they fight for a playoff spot. Previously, Cy Creek was ranked fourth, qualifying them for playoffs, while Cy Woods was sixth. This game could bring a shake-up to the rankings in the final weeks. Either way, the Wildcats still have one game left, and they still have their work cut out for them.

First of all, the Wildcats had issues with defensive consistency throughout the game. While it was not detrimental to the outcome of the game, it showed some flaws in the defensive line that could be exploited in the final game. Several times, the Wildcats had problems pushing through the Cougars’ offensive line to put more pressure on their quarterback, allowing him to make more accurate, calculated decisions, especially later in the game. The Cy Woods defense would sometimes leave major holes for Cy Creek to slip through for a first down. The Cougars were forced many times to a fourth down conversion and managed to make the first down anyway. The defense needs to tighten up their line and better cover the field in order to prevent these holes from being used against them in the future. If the Wildcats do not sure up their defensive line to prevent this from continuing, this could prove disastrous, particularly against a very strong rushing offense that can quickly identify this and adjust.

In addition, Cy Woods struggled with playing well through the entire game. The first three quarters were excellent for the Wildcats, but they grew tired and allowed the Cougars to shorten the gap. This is unusual for the Wildcats since they historically have waited until the fourth quarter to take advantage of the other team tiring; however, this was not exactly a typical game. It was reversed this time with Cy Woods tiring out, and Cy Creek used this to their advantage late in the game. Again, this was not too harmful to Cy Woods’ lead, but it can be a big problem next week. After playing the game so well so far, it just came down to the fact that the team was tiring out. This can easily be evidenced by the four different injury timeouts for Cy Woods during the fourth quarter. The Wildcats need to better establish a deep bench and better stamina, so they can continue to play at a higher level throughout the whole game. If they can harness this, the sky is the limit.

Now, the Wildcats did a lot right this game. They did so much right that it is difficult to pinpoint one specific thing that they excelled at. The first half had some of, if not the, best playing all season for Cy Woods. They quickly adapted to changes in the Cougars’ lines and identified weaknesses they could exploit. The Wildcats came screaming out of the gate this time like nothing ever seen so far this season from them. Overall, their level of play was on a season-high. Coming into this game, no one expected the Wildcats to so expertly handle the Cougars and pull so far ahead. The score at halftime evidenced enough of this. Cy Woods showed up to win that night and did exactly that in such an efficient fashion it was like the team had suddenly been rejuvenated with some magic elixir. If they can harness this power and solidly continue to utilize it, the Wildcats will be a formidable opponent next week.

Friday night’s game was vital for the Wildcats on their road to playoffs. Despite being outside of qualifying at the time, the Wildcats proved once again that they have potential to be in the postseason and that they are not finished yet. All of this aside, the Wildcats have only reinforced what they have shown everyone this season: they should not be counted out and are a threat to be reckoned with. Next week, Cy Woods will play Cy Ranch at 1 p.m. at Cy-Fair FCU Stadium where they will be put to the test for the final time.