Tigercats begin league games with loss

The LaCrosse-Washtucna/Kahlotus Tigercats hosted Sunnyside Christian in the league opener game on Friday night in LaCrosse. After a scoreless first quarter for both teams, the Sunnyside Christian Knights quickly gained the scoring advantage over the Tigercats, with the Knights eventually winning the league game 56-12.

The Tigercats came off of a two-week practice schedule, after having a bye week the previous Friday after Milton-Freewater did not have enough athletes to play a full varsity game. With the bye week added in, head coach Justin Ziebell said the team focused on fundamentals and pass coverage.

The first quarter started strong for the Tigercats defense, which held the Knights at the line and pushed them back for a loss. The Tigercats defended the running game and the Knights were unable to run through the middle without being met by a Tigercat defender.

With the two defenses creating difficulty for either team to gain yardage, the teams went into the second quarter with the game remaining scoreless. While the second quarter started off well, Ziebell explained a variety of factors led to the 28-point run the Knights went on before halftime while the Tigercats put up six points.

Ziebell said the team continued to struggle with pass coverage downfield, and while the defense limited the Knights’ running game, a few pass action fakes caught the Tigercats and led to significant gains for the Sunnyside Christian team. The Knights continued to make adjustments throughout the game and those changes eventually earned the Knights a win, Ziebell explained.

“They made adjustments to what was working for us on offense,” Ziebell said. “Anytime they tried to run up the middle, we stuffed it, and a couple for a loss. Once they started running their sweeps, we failed to make the adjustments to widen our backers.”

Ziebell explained this is a rebuilding year for the team, both for the athletes and the coaches, and each game as served as a learning experience for the Tigercats. Overall, Ziebell said the game should drastic improvements for the team, especially on defense, and helps the team gain a better idea of where to focus for upcoming league competitions.

The Tigercats earned their second quarter score off of a 10-yard quarterback keeper by senior Joey Guske. The two-point conversion pass to the end zone was incomplete.

The Tigercats returned from the locker room after halftime with the same momentum as the first quarter and were able to hold the Knights to a single touchdown in the quarter. Late in the third quarter, Guske suffered an injury on an option play, which sidelined him for the remainder of the game.

Ziebell explained Guske appears to have an injury to a muscle in his shoulder and it has not been determined if he will play in this week’s game against Colton.

The Tigercats found the end zone for a second time in the fourth quarter when Bo Rice ran the ball for 30-yards and six points. The two-point conversion run was stopped short by the Knights’ defense. Rice led the Tigercats on offense with 61-yards on nine carries and one touchdown.

The Knights accumulated the majority of their 22 fourth quarter points in the final minute of the game. After a 70-yard touchdown play in the final minute, the Tigercats earned possession but an interception led to another touchdown for the Knights. The Tigercats ended the night with a 12-56 score in favor of the Knights.

Ziebell said the largest improvement for the team was tackling, which was led by Graham BeDell. Ziebell said when BeDell is on the field; there is no way a team can run inside without getting met by the Tigercats defender.

The Tigercats match up with Colton this Friday, and Ziebell said the team is emphasizing pass coverage, as Colton is known for their passing game. The team is going to focus on pressuring the quarterback and preventing downfield passes, with continuing to focus on making efficient tackles.

“We’re still pretty optimistic, we had some tough opponents and have some more coming up,” Ziebell said of the season. “We’re still in the learning stages, coaching too, and we’re still not looking too far ahead. I think our biggest goal is improving every week.”