Cedarville outlasts West Fork for 48-41 victory

CEDARVILLE — Cedarville running back Darryl Kattich had himself a great game Friday night.

Actually, he compiled a night’s worth of work by the end of the first half.

But the biggest two plays in Cedarville’s 48-41 win over West Fork were turned in by Hayden Morton and Bruce Turney.

Morton’s interception halted a late West Fork scoring drive, and the Pirates pounced when quarterback Cody Dickens hit a wide open Turney down the middle of the field for an 80-yard touchdown pass with 31 seconds left in the first half of the Pirates’ victory.

“That got some momentum to swing on our side right before the half,” Cedarville coach Max Washausen said. “West Fork has improved, and we knew they were improved. That triple option attack is hard to stop.”

The Tigers (4-3, 2-2) held Cedarville to just a single second- half touchdown while quietly closing to within seven with a minute to play.

“I’m happy with the way the kids came out and battled; we just came up short tonight,” West Fork coach Justin Smith said. “We had some trouble executing defensively in the first half.”

Cedarville (6-1, 1-1) scored on five of its six offensive series in the first half, with Kattich running for 133 yards and three scores in the first half.

Just a junior, Kattich finished with 158 yards and has now rushed for 1,414 yards and 20 touchdowns through seven games.

“It means everything to be six and one,” Washausen said. “We’re looking at Greenland next week, which is another big game, but in the end we’re trying to get a home playoff game.”

Kattich started the scoring with a 22-yard run on the team’s opening possession, a 10-play, 55-yard march. He added a 20-yard run late in the first to give the Pirates a 16-7 lead.

Cedarville’s only first half mistake, a fumble deep in its own territory, led by Ross Ivy’s 5-yard run which cut the Bucs’ lead to 16-14.

Hayden Partain countered with a 1-yard run to make it 24-14.

West Fork quarterback Eli Howerton, who had earlier fired a 35-yard scoring strike to Wyett Kutz squirted in from 11 yards out with 4:13 left in the half to make it 24-21.

Kattich countered with a 59-yard burst, and Turney followed that with an 80-yard TD reception.

“That’s just part of the game,” Smith said of Cedarville’s late interception and late TD pass. “If I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t have thrown it, but I felt like we had to take a shot there. We were trying to get some momentum going into the (second half).”

Kattich’s final TD gave the Bucs a 48-35 lead with 2:20 left, but Howerton quickly marched the Tigers down the field, scrambling for 16 and 19 yards and eventually scoring from a yard out with 55 seconds left.

Cedarville, however, recovered the onside kick to preserve the win.