~ John J.. Radcliffe Most Exciting Game " I t was the most exciting game I've ever been in," sa id senior Andy Rowan. This expression seemed to sum up the feelings of all the 1982 Wildcats. When this year' s seniors were in ninth grade a perfect season was ruined for them by Hazen. During their sophomore and junior seasons they wou ld again lose to their a rch rival s. These losses fue led the Wildcats desire to defeat the Hornet s in 1982. While weig.ht training during the summer the word " Hornet" helped ma ny a Wildcat finish hi s workout. The game was in the back of the pl aye r's minds al l summer, but t he preparation came into f ocus during threeand-a-half hour practices during Hazen-week. As the day of the game neared, players became increasingly ne rvous and excited abou t facing the then numbe r one ra nked team in the state. "We wanted them bad!" said Mi chae l Ke lly emphatically. The game was a defensive struggl e a ll through regulation with eac h team mounting a scoring drive . With the game tied at seven a ll , a n overtime period began . Hazen got the ball first and scored on fourth and e igh t. The ex tra point was good and the score stood at 14-7 when the Wi ldcats rece ived the pigskin . Two quick p lays resulted in a touc hdown for the Cats . The extra pOint attempt was good and the sco re was tied at 14. In the second ove rtime the Wildcats agai n recorded a touchdown, but the extra pOint attempt was wide left. This left the score at 20-14. The te nac ious Wildca ts reached deep inside themselves and limited the Ho rnets to a minus one yard on the first three plays. On fourth down a desperation pass was broken up in the endzone to sea l the victory. Afte r the game, enthusiasm rul ed . "We we re so hyped up from the game that we didn' t rea li ze for seve ral hours that we we re exha usted, " said Mark Story.~ Senior Football/331
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