Wildcats playoff bound

It’s district playoff time for the Winter Park Wildcats (5-4) after they finished runner up in a district tiebreaker. Now they head to Olympia (6-3) for a Nov. 18 showdown in the first round of regional play.

Just three days after defeating district rival Timber Creek 28-25 to force a three-way tie for the district lead, the Winter Park Wildcats watched the Wolves sneak away with a tiebreaker win for the championship.

The Wildcats edged East River 6-0 in the first of their two one-quarter games on Nov. 7. East River had fumbled on an early drive, coughing the ball up to Winter Park, which then completed a 54-yard drive for the win.

But in their next showdown against Timber Creek, the Wildcats’ luck ran out, with quarterback Asiantii Woulard’s first pass sailing into the hands of Timber Creek’s Shawn Risbrook. The Wildcats forced several third down plays but didn’t stop the Wolves from scoring. The Wildcats failed to score from within the 10-yard line on the ensuing drive, losing the district crown.

In an anti-climactic end to the regular season for the Wildcats, they still have one game left to play before playoff time. They’ll host Ocoee (2-7) at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11.

Wildcats JV

The Winter Park JV football team posted its fourth shutout of the season and capped off its 2011 schedule (6-2) with a 6-0 road victory over the Evans Trojans.

Freshman running back Travis Jones took care of all the scoring when he scampered 17 yards on the Wildcats’ second drive late in the first quarter.

“It was a defensive struggle all night. Our linebacking corps was exceptional, nose tackle Daniel Tommey recovered a fumble, and cornerback Cameron Gergley intercepted a pass to help ensure the shutout,” said Coach Scott Hillman, whose squad this year was his youngest with 10 freshmen on the roster.

“It was a very enjoyable and rewarding season. It seemed like we improved every week as the season went along,” said Hillman whose team averaged 19.1 points per game and allowed only an average of 4.6 points per game.