Published: September 22, 2007 12:37 am            

Wildkats subdue stubborn Trojans

Kokomo wins 28th straight over NCC rival

NEW CASTLE — October 12, 1979.

That was the last time the Kokomo Wildkats football team lost to the New Castle Trojans. Since, the North Central Conference rivals have faced each other 28 times, and after Friday night’s game here, Kokomo has come away the victor in each of the 28 games.

This was one of the more difficult wins in the series for the Wildkats. Kokomo jumped on top 14-0 in the first quarter but had to hang on for a 20-6 victory that saw the Kats stay atop the NCC standing with a spotless 4-0 mark.

At 5-1 overall, it guarantees that the Kats cannot finish with a losing season. Kokomo’s last winning season was 2000.

“This is just a step for us — the kids are thinking beyond [the winning season],” said Kokomo coach Brett Colby. “After the big win last week, we told our kids to go out [tonight], play hard and leave no doubt. Even once we were up 14-0, I still thought we were flat, but I give credit to New Castle (2-4, 1-3) because they simply kept fighting us.”

Once again the story was a Wildkat defense that is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with. For the third straight week Kokomo surrendered only a touchdown and gave the offense a huge boost to begin the game for the second straight week.

This time it was Keegan Walker who burst through the New Castle line on the first play from scrimmage to disrupt a Trojan pitch. Walker pounced on the ball at the New Castle 10 yard line and Kokomo was in business.

Kokomo scored two plays later when Justin Patterson powered in from three yards out. A fake on the PAT attempt failed and Kokomo led 6-0.

Kokomo’s defense then forced a three and out and the Kats gained possession at their 35 yard line after a punt. Kokomo marched 65 yards in nine plays before Patterson scored his second touchdown from five yards. Taylor Carpenter found Dustin Schacht for the two-point conversion and a 14-0 lead with 4:44 left in the quarter.

“We respond well to being behind because we’re very tough mentally,” said New Castle coach Warren Cook. “No one gives us a chance in these games especially when [Kokomo] hung 41 points on the same Huntington team that put 40 on us. We were able to weather some early storms, gain confidence, and step up on defense. We just didn’t get enough offense to win tonight and we’re unhappy about that.”

After Kokomo’s second score, the teams settled into a defensive stalemate as Kokomo turned the ball over an uncharacteristic four times and missed several chances to pad its lead. Still, Kokomo kept the Trojans contained until the final drive of the first half when wide receiver Jared Millikan did a little bit of everything. Millikan had a 12 yard end around run, a 37 yard pass on a trick play, and a seven yard touchdown catch 35 seconds before half-time that closed the gap to 14-6 after a missed PAT kick.

Kokomo’s defense then stiffened, as it forced a punt, a turnover on downs, a fumble, and an interception on New Castle’s four second half possessions. Curt Hutchens led the way from his middle linebacker position with 12 tackles, 2.5 of them for loss. He forced a fumble, and his 34 yard interception return iced the game. He was key in holding the NCC’s second leading rusher Andre Turner (116 yards rushing average per game) to just 66 yards.

“We got a big play early just like last week and with our offense we play a whole lot better when we aren’t playing catch up,” said Colby. “We had some chances to salt it away early and get up 21-0 but the defense made sure we played with the lead.”

Kokomo gained 328 rushing yards, but 298 of those yards were split evenly between Patterson and Braxton Shelton at 149 yards apiece. Both did the dirty work of moving the football, but Patterson got the glory on this night by finding the end zone three times, including on an 11 yard run up the middle with 3:29 left that gave Kokomo breathing room.

Shelton had crucial gains on the night though with 41 and 22 yard runs in the fourth quarter to quickly flip the field around after a punt pinned the Kats at their 19.

“Since [Patterson] is playing both ways and Braxton is just playing offense, [Shelton] is a little bit more fresh when it comes to the fourth quarter,” said Colby. “Both guys ran very hard. It was good to see [Patterson] get in the end zone three times.”

        

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