Wildcats crush Tigers

ODESSA - Two offensive juggernauts squared off Friday, Sept. 22 when No. 2 ranked Wilbur-Creston came to town to take on the No. 4 Tigers. W-C entered the game having outscored their opponents 172-48, and the Tigers boasted a 202-48 advantage over their foes.

But the Wildcats overwhelmed the Tigers on both sides of the ball and cruised to a 54-6 victory.

In the first quarter, it appeared neither team could move the ball against their opponents' stout defense. After playing eight minutes, W-C found a soft spot in the Tigers' defense and scored on a 30-yard pass from Preston Michel to Kallen Maioho.

Three minutes later the two connected again, this time on a 70-yard pass. At the end of the first quarter, W-C led 12-0.

Throughout the first half, the Wildcats stuffed Odessa ball carriers at the line of scrimmage for little or no gain.

Chad Strebeck finally broke through the W-C defense and rambled 40 yards to the 3-yard line. The Wildcats' defense stiffened and kept Odessa from the end zone.

W-C drove the length of the field and scored on a 25-yard pass from Maioho to Michael to make the score 18-0.

With time running out in the first half, Landon McMillan scored the Tigers' sole touchdown of the game with a 22-yard scamper around the left end.

W-C led 18-6 at halftime.

The Wildcats scored in the third quarter on a 30-yard pass and runs of 35 and 55 yards to make the score 40-6.

In the final quarter, Odessa moved the ball downfield and came up big on 4th-and-20 when quarterback Sean Devore hit Landon McMillan on a long pass for the first down.

But the drive stalled. W-C took over the ball and scored on a 17-yard pass and again on a 12-yard run to cap off the 54-6 win.

"We got outmatched," Odessa head coach Joe Schlomer said. "They executed better than we did. They basically know our playbook, so it was a chess match and they out chess matched us."

The win improved W-C's record to 4-0 and Odessa fell to 3-1.

The Tigers' next game will be at Wellpinit at 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29.