Winter Park heads to East River on Thursday

The Winter Park Wildcats (3-4, 1-0) tried their hand at a homecoming comeback Oct. 13, but came up short against an Evans (6-0) team on Oct. 13 that refused to go down. Now the Cats head to East River with a 17-14 loss hanging over them.

The Trojans leapt out early to take a 17-0 lead against the Wildcats in the first half, scoring on long passing plays that bamboozled the Wildcat defense.

A win would already have been a statistically difficult achievement for the Wildcats, who faced an undefeated Evans team that had pulled off convincing wins in a nearly unprecedented season. The Trojans spanked East Ridge 35-7 on Oct. 7.

Evans jumped onto the scoreboard within minutes of the first kickoff, and had already picked up another touchdown by the end of the first quarter.

Meanwhile, the Winter Park offense struggled to keep up, moving the ball only rarely in between long punts in the first half.

The second half was a different story, as the Wildcats used quarterback Asiantii Woulard’s rapidly improving arm to fire off 277 yards worth of passes. The bulk of them went to receivers Xavier Amerson and Dvario Montgomery, who amassed 181 and 103 respective receiving yards.

Montgomery also stole the spotlight on defense, playing as defensive back and picking up two interceptions in the same quarter as the Wildcats tried desperately to pick up the winning score.

But they never found their final touchdown, falling short in their comeback.

The Wildcats head to East River this week for a 7:30 p.m. Friday kickoff. The Falcons (4-2, 1-1) will be the second district team the Wildcats will face so far. The Falcons beat Oviedo 28-14 last week. That game was knotted at the half before East River went on two long drives to grab the touchdowns that spelled the difference.

Winter Park JV falls

The Winter Park JV football team battled back from a 21-0 deficit midway through the third quarter, but dropped a hard-fought 21-14 decision to the University Cougars.

“A couple of early mistakes bit us, but the kids fought back in the second half and played well on offense and made it close,” said Coach Scott Hillman, whose team fell to 3-2 on the season.

The Wildcats got on the scoreboard in the third quarter when freshman running back Elliot Hammond punched it in from five yards out and Ari Ben-Zeev kicked the extra point to make it 21-7. Winter Park closed to within a touchdown early in the fourth quarter when freshman quarterback J.P. Colton connected with sophomore tight end/wide receiver Chase Stutts on a 25-yard scoring strike. Ben-Zeev kicked the extra point.

The Cats next host East River at Showalter Field on Thursday, Oct. 20, at 7:30 p.m.