Cats Football scres homecing victory

Defense was the name of the game, as the Blackcats Football Team won its fifth game in a row, Saturday afternoon.

The Cats scored a 12-0 Homecoming victory over the Perryville Pirates.

The first half saw five Perryville drives and four Fredericktown drives. All but one ended with a punt. The Cats also had a Jake Clauser interception in the second quarter.

The halftime score was 0-0.

The Cats offense stepped up its game in the second half, matching the defense. FHS took the second half kickoff and drove to the Perryville 20 yard line, before being stopped on fourth down.

Whitey Smothers first of two interceptions set the Cats up on the Perryville 36. Fredericktown converted two fourth downs, and faced another fourth down at the five yard line. This time—on the first play of the fourth quarter—Mike Crowell booted at 22-yard field goal to give Fredericktown a 3-0 lead.

Perryville took the ensuing kickoff and was stopped by the FHS defense again. This time, the Pirates attempted a fake punt, but the pass was defended by Chaz Spangler, and the Cats took over on the Perryville 42. On third down and ten on the 42, Cats Quarterback Wesley Sharp found a wide open Chase Dunham who got behind the defense. He made the catch and was down at the one yard line. Two plays later, Junior David Penwell punched the ball in for a score. Crowell booted the PAT and it was 10-0 with 6:35 to go in the game.

The next Perryville drive ended with Smothers’ second interception. The Cats punted and the ball sailed out of bounds at the Perryville five yard line. After two incomplete passes, the Pirates were hit with a holding penalty. On third down, the Fredericktown defense put a heavy rush on Pirates Quarterback Ryan Lorenz. Sophomore Adam Daniels got to Lorenz first and forced a fumble in the end zone. The ball skidded out of the back of the end zone for a safety. The score was 12-0.

The Pirates had just 152 yards of total offense on 51 plays. Tailback Kris Cottner had 120 yards rushing on 31 carries.

For the Cats, Penwell had 25 carries for 116 yards and the only TD. Jake Clauser had 28 yards and Sharp had eight. Sharp also completed five of nine passes for 57 yards. Dunham led with two catches for 43 yards.

On defense, Smothers had two interceptions. Clauser had the other. Penwell led with nine tackles. Nick Cook had eight.

The Cats will play at Charleston, Friday night.