Great times for gridders At the end of the 1976 season, the Wildcats and their fans gazed in amazement at the team' s record of 18 consecutive wins alongs ide of the state championsh ip title. Many said that it cou ld not be done again, but thi s yea r's team said otherwise as t hey captured the Arkansas Class A State Champ i.on<hip . The Cats left a lasting impression on their first opponents by defeating the Murfreesboro Rdtt lers 27 to 0 and Ho rat io by the score of 35 to O. The gridders went on to beat Deaf School, the last team to win against the Wi Ideats , by a score of 36 to 20. Conference play opened for the defending state champions as they took on the Cotton Plant Scrappers, defeating them soundly 34 to O. So fa r, the team had not encou ntered many obstacl es in their path to an undefeated season, but they did as they met the Hazen Hornets on Alumni Fie ld. Hazen, also undefeated , 322 • Senior Football was back in the race for the District t itle after compet ing in class A football the year before . It was predicted that the winner of the game wou ld win the district championsh ip title. The game was scoreless until the third quarter when Hazen scored seven points and the Cats found themselves behind for t he first time duri ng the season. However, the determined team fought back and scored with less than five minutes left in the game. The game was t ied at the end of regulation play and went into overti me . The Cats won duri ng the extended play by seven points . As was pred icted, the winner of that game went on to win the di strict tit le and also grasp t he state title. In the state playoffs the Wildcats who scored 93 points, were scored on only once. The past two seasons have brought much excitement and honor to the Wi ldcats, their coaches and fans . One can onl y ponder,"Can they do it again?"
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