(Note: This game has been moved to 7 p.m. Thursday, November 7 due to weather conditions.)
The Whitney Wildcats got back into the groove Friday night, November 1, dancing past the Groesbeck Goats and keeping the hope for a playoff berth alive.
The Wildcats posted 42 points in the second half to slam the door shut and soar to a 74-41 victory.
Whitney now faces a win-and-get-in scenario against the rival West Trojans. West came up just short Friday night in a 20-17 overtime loss to Grandview, putting the Trojans in the same boat as the Wildcats and setting up the dramatic finish to the regular season
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium.
Both Whitney and West are 5-4 overall and sit at 1-3 in district with the fourth playoff spot at stake. Grandview and Mexia are to in the top two slots and will battle next week for a shot at the district title. Mexia snuck past Maypearl 17-10 on Friday, putting the Panthers as the third seed in the playoffs.
The Wildcats and Trojans have struggled to meet the expectations this season, but both have shown flashes and sparks of success. Whitney has proven to have the ability to pour on the points as the games wind down, while West has flexed its defensive muscle in multiple nail-biters.
The Wildcats will need to eliminate big plays from West and control the football.
Whitney surrendered several long-range scoring plays in the first half against Groesbeck, which gave the Goats a false sense of hope. Under the leadership of Mason Seely, the Wildcat offense was ready to respond and grabbed the lead in the second quarter, while the defense came up with several big stops and the special teams aided the effort.
Whitney pushed to a 32-21 halftime lead with rushing touchdowns from Angel Saucedo and Delvion Walter that were complemented by scoring strikes from Seely to Kaden Tanner, Kobe Haynes and Hagen Landrum.
The Wildcats stormed out of the locker room and kept the momentum rolling as Seely connected for a 27-yard touchdown to KJ O’Hearn. The defense then delivered a knockout with a big sack from Jacaiden Overstreet and a 50-yard interception return from Jake Lessman to bring to score to 46-21.
Both teams kept firing, and the Wildcats added two more third-quarter scores, one from Walter and a rushing touchdown from Seely.
Whitney took a 60-35 lead into the fourth quarter when a fumble recovery from Colt Poore set up another Seely ground score. The Wildcats closed out the scoring spree with a long run from Aiden Albright that was capped off with a 12-yard touchdown from Jaime Cook.
The Lakelander 