JV Football Finishes season with a battle that ends in a loss

by Dillon Cooper

Throughout this whole year there has been one thing clear, the JV Wildcats were young and inexperienced. With the season starting with three tough losses (each on the road) and the first two being total blowouts, it could have been a long year. But Pittsford would rebound, winning against rival North Adams and Bellevue before losing again to Climax-Scotts. At this point Pittsford knew they had to pick it up; they had fallen to 2-4 overall and for the course of the next two weeks the Wildcats would improve to .500 for the first time that season (4-4). That led us to the last game of the season. Arguably the biggest game of the year and everyone knew it. This time their opponent would be a team that was riding a 39-game win streak. The Wildcats were determined to stop that streak and start a streak of their own! Determination aside, they couldn’t get it done, losing 20-0.

The Wildcats would take the 16-mile bus ride across the rough terrain to prove who was the better of the two schools. Though the ‘Cats were obviously outnumbered and the winning streak of the Rangers was going strong with no signs of stopping, they were still hanging in there all the way through the game.

Pittsford would begin the game electing to defer to the second half, so the Reading Rangers would receive the opening kick and try their luck at putting some points up on the board. As it turned out though, the Rangers luck wasn’t too good as they were stopped by the Wildcats defense that had noticeably been improving since the first weeks of the season. Pittsford would receive the ball but only move the pigskin a few yards. The first quarter was mostly nothing but a field position battle. Punt after punt, or even a few turnovers were mixed into the mathematical equation, but there was one variable that the men in blue did not see and that was miscommunication on the defense that led to a long run by the Reading Rangers. That long run would end in a touchdown to put Reading up by 6. They would fail with their extra point try and the score would remain the same until halftime. “We were hanging in there,” said sophomore running back Kyle Wyatt. “We were playing tough against a team that had won 40 straight games,” added assistant coach and defensive coordinator Mr. Hodos.

The ‘Cats had outdone the Rangers in every single stat possible except for the one that counted in the end, the score. Pittsford was getting support from everyone and the support that they earned for fighting an uphill battle that seemed to be as steep as Mount Everest. They would come out of the locker room and receive the ball with a new mindset. Pittsford would drive the ball but stall and be forced to punt the ball. Reading would receive the punt and start their drive. They would run the ball all the way down to the goal line and score. The drive was time consuming but was also fueled by Wildcat mistakes. The Rangers were up 12-0 and trying for an extra two to tack on to a small lead. They would succeed in doing so and the Reading Rangers led 14-0 over their visitors.

Pittsford was still very much in the game, though; all they had to do was score on two drives and they would be right in a deadlock with their rivals. Even though the plan seemed simple, there was a difference between saying something and then doing it and right now the Wildcats were saying and not doing. P-ford would continue to drive but once again stall on their hopeful drive, just like before. “That was a big factor; we never really finished our drives,” said Mr. Hodos. “I was mad when we would drive the ball down and then be stopped,” admitted freshman Zack Schaedler.

Reading would score one more time, this time on a punt return. There was excellent hustle to the ball but they over-pursued their opponent and off Reading went on a long punt return all the way to the house. The score was 20-0 and that it would stay as the Wildcats would lose their last game of the season playing tough football. “That game could have went either way, I really think, it just came down to two big plays and a drive and we would have probably won the game,” pointed out Mr. Hodos. “It really didn’t feel too good when we lost,” exclaimed sophomore Austin Billington. “We could have played better,” expressed sophomore Nick Kik.

The JV ‘Cats ended the season 4-5, but improved a lot and saved what could have been a long season by rattling off some impressive wins. “At the beginning of the year we couldn’t tackle, block, we could do anything!” Laughed Mr. Hodos. “The first game of the year we couldn’t move the ball across the street, we missed tackles all the time on defense, and then the last game of the year we played a team that has won 40 straight games in a bigger conference then ours, and we were able to play with them toe to toe,” acknowledged Mr. Hodos.Overall the Wildcat’s season was an excellent one in terms that they had improved so much “It was like night and day,” agreed Wyatt, and that it was. Even though they ended with a losing season it was still better then not winning a game at all!