YATES CENTER — For the first time in more than two decades, Yates Center is headed to the 11-man playoffs.
It may not have been pretty at times but often in football, it doesn’t need to be as the Wildcats held on Friday to beat Oswego 20-18.
“We’re really happy for the kids,” co-head coach Ryan Panko said. “It’s been a long time coming for something like this to happen. With district play, you get a second chance. Anything can happen if you play hard. We went through a gauntlet through the season. All of the hard work paid off and it’s nice. I feel good for the kids.”
The first half was one to forget for both teams as neither scored until late in the second quarter. Eight total first-half turnovers crippled any kind of consistency on the offensive end.
“A lot of time to me, turnovers are just being lazy,” co-head coach Tanner Davis said. “We just weren’t taking care of the ball and getting it in that breadbasket where we want it. But the nice thing is with as many times as we shot ourselves in the foot, we bounced back and they prevailed. You can’t be any more happy than that they found a way to win. That’s what matters.”
With 1:16 left in the half, junior running back Thayne Smith broke loose on a 26-yard run to put the Wildcats up 6-0.
Smith was a force on the offensive end, scoring all three of the Wildcat touchdowns, two on the ground and one reception.
“(Smith) had a great performance,” Davis said. “But I think things lined up nicely for us. Defensively, they were doing some things that we saw and our line was able to pick up on those things and hit some of those traps and get up through the middle. Props to Thayne but at the same time, it’s a team game.”
Even with the short time left in the second quarter, Oswego responded, burning the Yates Center defense on a 60-yard pass to tie it at 6 with 6.4 seconds left in the half.
It was all Yates Center in the third quarter. Smith broke free on a 34-yard screen pass to put the Wildcats up 14-6. Smith completed the hat trick, breaking a couple of tackles to go 84 yards to put Yates Center up 20-6 with 1:05 left in the quarter.
The Wildcats picked Oswego off on their ensuing drive and drove all the way down to their goal line but turned the ball over on downs.
The Indians put together their best drive of the night and scored on a 26-yard pass with 6:13 left in the game. They did not get the two-point conversion so they continued to trail by 8.
An onside kick immediately followed the score, which the Indians scooped up to retain possession. After another long pass got the Indians in the red zone, a five-yard touchdown run cut the Wildcats lead to two. Another two-point conversion failed and Yates Center had a two-point lead to cling to with 5:08 left in the game.
The Wildcats corralled the Indians’ next onside attempt and was able to run the clock, and the celebration ensued.
The Wildcats are 3-6 on the season and will take on Olpe in the first round of the Class 2-1A playoffs next Friday. Yates Center played the Eagles at Olpe earlier this month and lost 61-0.
