Wildcats outlast Rams in opener

It was a long night for the Winter Park Wildcats football team, which fought a long-yardage, low-scoring tug of war against Lake Mary, winning 14-0 Friday.

The Wildcats had expected a tough game from the start.

“They’re going to come at us,” wide receiver D’vario Montgomery said.

And bring it they did, pushing the ball frequently into Winter Park territory, coming as close as the red zone on multiple occasions but always finding a brick wall against the Wildcats.

Penalties and flags on both ends of the field moved the ball back and forth in crucial moments to bring both teams within scoring range, but both had trouble getting the job done early on. Neither team managed to find the end zone in the first half.

That ball continued to be pushed back and forth in a tug-of-war match until the Wildcats finally started to gain offensive traction in the second half.

New quarterback Asiantii Woulard grew into his role throughout the game as he made some daring pass attempts and changed things up by pounding the ball up the middle like a running back.

He hadn’t played at all in the preseason game against East Ridge, which the Wildcats lost 35-21.

With the hard-fought victory behind them, the Wildcats now look forward to two straight rivalry games, first against Edgewater and then against Boone.

The Wildcats will hit the road for their 7:30 p.m. Friday showdown against Edgewater, which lost its season opener against Olympia 20-14. Olympia gained 407 total yards in that game, intercepting the Eagles’ passes twice.

“They want to come after us,” defensive end James Washington said of the team’s top rival. “We just need to play full speed.”