To celebrate senior night and homecoming weekend, the WJ football team defeated the Wootton Patriots 37-3. Due to this win, the Wildcats will receive home field advantage when they play Gaithersburg in the first round of the playoffs.

To begin the game, senior kicker Kevin Lukash kicked the ball off to the Patriots who went three and out on their opening drive. The Wildcats converted on fourth down early, which led to a touchdown where junior quarterback Charlie Blessing threw to junior wide receiver Reid Wisniewski. Lukash missed the extra point which was then made up for when senior wide receiver Pablo Foley scored a touchdown and senior running back Kiran Sen made a two-point conversion.

“It helped us get in a better spot after previously missing an extra point. It also helped me prove my abilities again coming off of an injury a couple weeks ago,” Sen said.

In the second quarter, the defense managed to force two turnovers. First, junior defensive back Daniel Kenvo picked off Wootton junior quarterback/kicker Matthew Repie. The offense was unable to take advantage of this change of possession. When the defense stepped back on the field, senior defensive lineman Shane Barrios forced and recovered a fumble. This possession change also didn’t result in any points put on the board by the offense.

“As a team we should have done much better. I believe we were a much superior team and we played down to our opponent which wasn’t ideal,” Foley said.

Towards the end of the half, the Patriots put points on the board for the first and last time when Repie’s kick went through the goalposts. To end the half, Blessing spiked the ball to stop the clock which allowed Lukash to have time to kick a 36 yard field goal.

To begin the second half, Foley scored another touchdown.

“It felt pretty good and it felt long overdue but the fact that it was senior night made it feel more special,” Foley said.

The Wildcats put more points on the board late in the fourth quarter with senior quarterback Andrew Plotnick finding senior wide receiver Dawson Carr in the endzone for a touchdown. The Wildcats got the ball back after a short possession from the Patriots and Plotnick nearly ran the ball for a 69 yard touchdown, but it was called back by a holding penalty. The very next play Sen ran the ball 65 yards to the endzone to extend the WJ lead. The game was one of the longest games in recent Wildcats’ history with a run time of three hours and 10 minutes.

The Wildcats will face Gaithersburg (3-6) on Friday, Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m. This will be the start of the postseason. The Wildcats have won at home all season and will play to keep that success in the playoffs and keep their season going.

“We have had huge success at home and I feel like not only the stands and fans supporting us will be huge but also just the comfortability of our own field which we practice on every day. I feel as though I am more comfortable on my feet, cutting, running and catching on our field than any other school’s field,” Foley said.