No. 23, Wildcat Darius Green.

The Wildcat’s 20-17 district loss at home to the Bishop Kenny Crusaders was a game of missed opportunities for the hosts. Twice they were 2 yards away from the end zone and twice they were denied. In the end, the Wildcats came away empty handed. Literally.

The prize in near reach was the district trophy. A win would make BCHS district champs and a loss would mean sitting out the playoffs. But the Wildcats couldn’t cross the line when they had to, and committed four costly turnovers.

What’s frustrating to Wildcat players, coaches and fans alike is that the Crusaders are good, but no better than the Wildcats. The breaks just fell their way.

At the start of the game the Cats looked to be the dominant team. Kendrick Singleton was wearing star receiver Ahmed Fulwood like a glove and Kenny couldn’t run the ball. When they attempted a fake punt, BCHS had the ball inside Kenny territory at the 43.

The BCHS defense stopped the Crusaders yet again and Sirk, who rushed for 163 yards on 20 attempts, punched it in from the 2-yard line. Jeremy Wannamaker added the point after.

The lead was short lived. Hunter Parry took the kickoff 97 yards for the score to shock the capacity crowd. Sophomore sensation Jon Wolford then led the Crusaders to a second score, connecting with Fulwood and Cameron Singletary, who snagged a Wolford pass in the end zone for a 5-yard score and the lead.

The Wildcats never gave up and as the half ended they had their best drive of the game. Sirk found Brandon Miller at the Kenny 43 and Hadley at the 30-yard line. Kenny was hit with a holding penalty and Sirk found Roland Gaskins, who ran down to the 1-yard line. With no time left on the clock Sirk ran the ball in from a yard out to send both teams to the locker room with the game knotted 14-14.

The Cats got the ball on the second-half kickoff and marched down the field to within sight of the goal line. But Fulwood intercepted a Sirk pass to end the drive.

Kenny had some bad luck of its own. The Crusaders tried to capitalize on the interception and drove to the Wildcat 29 but were stopped as Rickie Tharpe tipped the ball from the receiver’s hand. The field goal attempt was wide right.

But when the Cats got the ball back Wolford engineered a 70-yard drive, connecting with his brother Bobby, and ran in a touchdown from 8 yards out. CeCe Jefferson burst through the line to block the extra point attempt.

After BCHS marched down the field, Sirk pitched the ball to Singleton with an open lane to the end zone. The usually sure handed receiver bobbled the ball and Kenny recovered to snuff the drive.

The Cats’ last opportunity came when with 5 minutes to go in the game, again near the Kenny red zone. They couldn’t penetrate closer than the 10-yard line and Wannamaker narrowed the gap with a 28-yard field goal.

On the Wildcats’ final drive Moronkie Tapper sealed the win for the Crusaders with an interception.

Sirk led the Cats going 11 of 21 for 153 yards in the air and three interceptions. Falon Lee had 46 yards on nine carries.