Stout Defense Smothers Comets

October 19, 2020October 26, 2020 Paul Clark

Doing most of their damage in the second half, the Panther defense created 2 interceptions, 4 fumbles, and 2 touchdowns in Saturdays 30-19 come-from-behind victory over visiting Delavan-Darien.

“The kids did a really good job. All the praise to [the defense] on that. We really squeezed it tight. And they came out aggressive, and they were excited to play football today….. We got a 310-pound nose-guard, Ethan Ivan, and when you got a kid like that and we’re on the 1-yard line, and say ‘Ethan penetrate’ and we brought a lot of pressure. We brought the house. And we made some big plays when it mattered,” defensive coordinator Brian Hopkins said of his defense’s play in the second half.

Wilmot trailed 12-6 at halftime. They would kick make a 26-yard field goal to cut the score to 12-9, but then Delavan-Darien broke off a big TD run to go up 19-9.

The offense still couldn’t find a rhythm on the ensuing drive, and Delavan-Darien would get the ball back quickly.

That is when the Panther defense decided to take this game over. It started with a tackle-for-loss by junior defensive back Briggs Kafar (#33), and a leaping pass defense by Junior defensive back, Corey Patrick (#13), on 3rd-and-long. Then Delevan-Darien had to punt out of their own end zone.

A high snap would lead to a fumble, that would bounce right back up to the punter, and he was immediately swarmed by Kaleb Gendron (#4), Mason Langford (#6) , and Anthony Corona (#32). They ripped the ball out before taking him to the ground. The ball rolled loose on the ground, and senior DL Aaron Denko (#22) pounced on it for Panther touchdown. The PAT kick would cut the lead to 19-16.

And now the Wilmot defense smelled blood.

A clutch interception by Briggs Kafar (#33) would give Wilmot possession just :57 seconds into the 4th quarter.

Trailing by just three points, and watching his offense struggle to get into rhythm, head coach Keiya Square decided to make a quarterback change. He put in senior transfer (York HS, IL) Mike Bojesen, who took his first snap in a Panther uniform for a 25-yard run off left tackle. Here is a HUDL reel of Bojesen from 2019:

https://www.hudl.com/profile/9405151/Mike-Bojesen

The drive would stall on a 3rd-and-4 play, but the Panther punt on 4th down would pin the Comets in at their own 1-yard line.

Just before the first down snap, everyone in the stadium could hear Panther defensive coordinator Brian Hopkins yell, “Penetrate Ethan!” And before the Comet QB could take one step, Ivan had blown the Delavan-Darien center back into the QB, popping the ball out in the end zone. Senior DL, Braidy Beagle (#23), won the battle at the bottom of the pile, and recovered the fumble, giving Wilmot it’s first lead at 23-19 with 8:29 remaining in the 4th quarter.

The Panther freight train was rolling now.

The Panthers got the ball back two minutes later. Coach Square put Zimmerman back in at QB. A few runs by Falletti and Caden Mulhollon (#20) would give Wilmot 1st-and-goal at the 8-yard line. Then Coach Square reversed back to Bojesen at QB. Bojsen would take 3 straight runs up the middle and score his first touchdown as a Wilmot Panther giving Wilmot a 30-19 lead with 3:06 remaining in the game.

Delevan-Darien would get two chances with the ball, but the Panther defense would shut them down both times.

Wilmot will play at Badger this Friday night.