The Wildcats football lost three and won one league games between Oct. 9 and Oct 30, due to their weak defense and their opponents’ strong offense.

Due to the Matador’s strong offense and unbreakable defense, the Dougherty Valley Wildcats Varsity football team stumbled to the Miramonte Matadors during the Oct. 9 Homecoming game, losing 10-49.

Although the Wildcats excelled in the first few minutes of the quarter, they eventually fell to the Matadors’ strengthening defense, losing 7-20. Barely one minute into the quarter, junior runningback Teni Adeoti scored the first touchdown of the game. However, the Matadors soon tied the Wildcats, bringing the score to 7-7 with nine minutes left. A Matadors penalty wiped a point off their score, lowering the score 7-6. A blocked punt by the Matadors enabled them to score another touchdown three minutes after, making the score 7-13. The Matadors continued to advance on yards, bringing them 13 points ahead of the Wildcats at 7-20. While a recovered punt by senior Paul Raventos sparked hopes of another Wildcat touchdown, the home team fell short due to a lack of time.

During second quarter, the Matadors increased the score gap. Soon after the start, the Wildcats scored a field goal, bringing the score to 10-20. With the Matadors putting pressure on the Wildcats’ offensive line and mowing down their defense, the Matadors eventually scored two more touchdowns, thus widening the score difference by 24 at 10-34.

Similar patterns of play continued in the second half, with the Matadors halting any progress from the Wildcats. After a series of incomplete long passes by the Wildcats resulting in turnovers, the Matadors were able to score two more touchdowns during the third quarter. A drive by senior Sam Tarasow looked promising, but the Matadors nonetheless stymied the Wildcats’ efforts to catch up.

When asked about the results of the game, head coach Nick Tisa mentioned a total of  19 penalties throughout the game.

“I was frustrated as a coach. and felt like some of the penalties were completely unnecessary,” Tisa mentioned. “But we also did did not play four quarters of good football.”

Next up were the Acalanes Dons, whom the Wildcats played against on Oct. 16 at Acalanes High School. The Wildcats defeated the Dons 34-7 because of strong defense and offense exhibited by the Wildcats.

When asked about the results of the game, Tisa remarked, ”It was excellent. We played four quarters of good football with passion and it was a team effort.”

The Wildcats next played the Alhambra Bulldogs on Oct.23. Going 6-2 into the game, Tisa had high hopes.

“Although we’ve never beat Alhambra before, our goal is to win this game for the seniors on the team since it’s senior night.”

But although the Wildcats soared in the beginning of first quarter, the Bulldogs later caught on, tying the score 7-7. In the beginning of the quarter, despite the Bulldogs’ strong defense, to try to slow down the momentum of the Wildcats offense, Adeoti managed to score a touchdown. The Bulldogs quickly followed with a long drive that resulted in a buzzerbeater touchdown, bringing the score 7-7.

Failing to continue the momentum shown in the beginning of first quarter, the Wildcats soon trailed the Bulldogs 7-14 after a series of plays that resulted in turnovers, including a Wildcats fumble. Although the Wildcats offense was never strong enough to counter the Bulldogs defense, the Wildcats were able to hold off the Bulldogs’ progress for the rest of the quarter.

In the second half, the Wildcats were not able to recover the momentum and progress shown in the beginning of the game. Only three minutes into the third quarter, the Bulldogs scored a touchdown against the Wildcats, raising the score 7-21. After a Bulldogs  interception, Mike Smith Intercepted the Bulldogs’ pass with 1:30 of the third quarter to go. However, the Bulldogs yet again intercepted another Wildcats’ pass with 20 seconds of third quarter to go.. Although Adeoti and Tarasow showed efforts to create a Wildcat comeback, the Bulldogs nonetheless scored two more, resulting in a final score of 7-35.

Next up were rival school Dublin Gaels, whom the Wildcats played against on Oct. 30 at Dublin.

The Wildcats’ weak defense allowed for the Gaels to score two touchdowns before halftime . With a turnover to the Gaels at the 10 yard line on the Wildcats side, the Gaels were able to score a touchdown within five minutes of the first quarter. Although the Wildcats tried their best at a long-distance passing game, all of their passes were incomplete, thus rendering their chances of scoring during the first quarter. Two minutes into second quarter, the Gaels scored another touchdown due to a long drive after a punt, raising the score 0-14. Although the Wildcats offense was unable to show much progress against the Gaels, they were at least able to slow off the Gaels offense for the rest of the quarter.

The Wildcats were unable to show much progress against the Gaels during the second half, even though Wildcats showed that they had a chance during the fourth quarter. Only 30 seconds in, the Gaels scored against the Wildcats’ weak defense, bringing the score ‘to 0-21. With a long Gaels pass that put them only one yard away from the end line, the Gaels were able to score another touchdown against the Wildcats with 31 seconds to spare, making the score 0-28. However, at the start of the fourth quarter, the Wildcats finally executed a complete pass that allowed  them to score a touchdown, trying to close the gap 7-28. However, the Gaels responded to that with a long drive that resulted in a touchdown one minute later. After a fumble recovery by Adeoti, the ball was intercepted at the 10-yard line by the Gaels. The gaels were able to sneak in a touchdown with fewer than five minutes of the quarter to go, bringing the score to 7-41. However, the Wildcats scored their second touchdown of the quarter with less than three minutes of the quarter to spare.

When asked about the results of the game, head coach Nick Tisa responded, “We lost because we did not play with discipline. They beat us at the line of scrimmage and they [the Gaels] were the mentally tough team on Friday night. We were prepared with a scheme but we didn’t execute it”.

However, when asked about his goals and hopes for the NCS playoffs, Tisa responded, “We made it to playoffs two years ago and although we were happy and proud then to make it that far, this is the year we want to win a playoff game. Several of our seniors were brought up from the playoff game two years ago so we have some experience with it.”   

Senior Trey Hoskins, holds similar views about the NCS playoffs.

“My goals for playoffs are that we go really far and get the championships. We shall strive to come as a team and play as a team in order to do so.”    

Dougherty Valley Wildcats, who is currently 12-seed, will be playing against 5-seed Pittsburg Pirates on Friday, Nov. 13, at Pittsburg High School.