Try as they might, the Stettler Wildcats could not solve the Lacombe Rams during the team’s final home game of the fall 2023 season.
While the hometown ‘Cats started strong thanks to a touchdown scored by Ryan Muchita halfway through the first quarter, Michael Waite from the Rams struck back with a touchdown of his own barely three minutes later. Including conversion points, the teams were tied at 7 to end the quarter.
In the second, the Rams struck again late in the quarter, jumping to a lead with 14 points.
Muchita hit the score sheet again in the dying seconds of the first half with another touchdown, though the team was unable to score on the conversion which left them trailing 14-13.
During the intermission, some of Stettler football’s next generation had the opportunity to perform. The Atom Bobcats, the youngest of the Stettler Football Association’s tiers, played an inter-squad scrimmage.
When the Wildcats and the Rams returned to the field for the third quarter, Koen Kaigel put the ‘Cats out to a lead 19-14 lead, which they carried into the fourth quarter.
Unfortunately, the Rams slipped past the Wildcats’ defence scoring a touchdown and a conversion early in the quarter, putting them ahead by one.
The Wildcats struck back around the nine-minute mark, though the Rams ended up with another touchdown and conversion of their own with one minute to go.
The final score was 28-26 in favour of Lacobome, in what was the tightest game of the Wildcats’ season.
This season is somewhat of a rebuilding year for the Wildcats after losing 13 team members to graduation last year.
