Western Wildcats breeze through adversity with undefeated record
Western High School football coach Adam Ratkevich knew his team would be resilient this year, and that certainly proved to be the case after Hurricane Irma wrecked havoc with the Wildcats schedule.
The team handled the adversity with flying colors. Six games, six victories. That winning streak included a stretch of four games in 14 days.
The Wildcats downed Flanagan on a Friday, Everglades the next Monday, Hallandale the following Monday and then rival Cypress Bay the following Friday.
“The way it broke down (after the storm) was that we may have had the worst schedule in the county,” Ratkevich said. “Cypress Bay had 10 days to prepare for us and we had played that Monday so we had just two days to prepare for our biggest rival.”
The scheduling makeover was difficult on the Western players both physically and mentally.
“It was kind of a brutal stretch,” Ratkevich added. “It was tough on the boys ... with all the preparation in terms of different teams do different things. To have a short window to prepare for (Cypress Bay) was tough, but fortunately we came out with a big win.”
The 48-7 victory made it two straight over the Lightning after losing to them the previous 12 meetings.
Western also defeated Dillard for the first time in school history this year with a 20-16 victory on Sept. 1. The team’s success is no surprise to Ratkevich.
“You could make the argument that we are in one of the best 8A districts in the state,” Ratkevich said. “I mean Flanagan and Miramar have won state titles, and Cypress Bay played for one in 2013.”
The Wildcats went 4-6 in Ratkevich’s first year coaching at the school, then 5-5 before a breakout year last season.
“We have gotten better every year,” said Ratkevich, whose team finished 8-2 in 2016 and made the playoffs before a 27-7 loss to Deerfield Beach in the regional quarterfinals. “We took a big step last year. The core group that was eighthgraders coming in (35 of the 48-man roster) is still here. We really thought this year was our year.”
The Wildcats outscored the opposition 193-45 to start the year, and are 3-0 in the difficult District 12-8A race with key match-ups against Plantation and Miramar looming.
“We know there are teams out there with more talent,” said Ratkevich, a 1989 graduate of Miramar High School, “but we are going to outwork teams. We are a blue-collar team. Our goal has been to battle every week and let the chips fall where they may. We also have some pretty talented kids.”
Senior Keshaun Clark rushed for 589 yards and eight touchdowns through the first six games, while senior quarterback Harrison Story passed for 668 yards and eight touchdowns and also rushed for 121 yards and one touchdown.
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