Wildcat Wrecking Crew Runs Over King, 43-0

By Mitch Silver

Fresh off a 50-0 pasting of Hopkins Grammar the Saturday before, Head Coach John Calandros’ Wildcats played host to visitors from Stamford’s King School on Wildcat Weekend October 22. And what terrible hosts they were. On the very first series, the home team shook off a false start to score on an eight-play drive, capped by senior running back Mike McGhee. They shook off another false start on the extra point to score on a completion from senior Henry Cohn to classmate Anthony Pisacano.

King dug themselves a deeper hole when they had the ball. After three plays, they had lost three yards; a bad snap on the punt turned the ball over to the Wildcats at the King 10-yard line. A fourth-down burst over the middle by junior Cole Denson, the Wildcats’ leading rusher on the afternoon with 174 yards, made it 14-0. The two-point extra was good, and the locals were up 16-0.

King was forced to punt once more, a gigantic kick that sailed deep into Wildcat territory. When the first quarter ended, Rye Country Day was surging downfield yet again. Three plays later, McGhee had broken through the line to score a third touchdown. The two-pointer was no good, but Rye was up by 22 points.

On King’s next series, Pisacano, now on defense, broke up a long-intended pass. King punted once more to the home side’s 23. After losing three yards on a run and throwing an incomplete pass, Rye Country Day gave the ball to Denson, who broke a tackle and raced 80 yards along the left sideline for TD number four. This time, Cohn kicked the PAT to send the Wildcats in front 29-0.

Two more series ending in King punts gave the ball back to the hosts at the Rye 21. A completion to Pisacano moved the ball to the 33. A pass interference penalty sent it to the 48. A loss of two and a 15-yard penalty pushed the Wildcats back to their own 31, but a diving catch on the right sideline by Pisacano gave the home team a first down at the King 37. Six plays later, an alley-oop pass from Cohn to Pisacano in the right end zone, made it 35-0 before another Cohn kick completed the scoring in the half.

The Wildcat Weekend crowd’s enthusiasm was unabated despite the home team’s only scoring one more touchdown in the second half. But they locked down the visitors, making the collective score against the last three opponents — Fieldston, Hopkins, and King — 131 to zero. The win earned the 5-1 Wildcats another meeting with Hopkins in the opening round of the playoffs, at home this Saturday at 1 p.m.