Bluejacket grid iron come from behind victory

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Brayden Berg, Sports reporter

It was late into the fourth quarter on Friday September 7, and the Bluejackets were down by 7. QB Brody Nelson rolls out to the right and throws the ball to the back of the end zone…

Everyone could tell this game was going to be good from the start; Cambridge-Isanti and the Chisago Lakes Wildcats were evenly matched. The Bluejackets were coming off a road win in Sartell. The Wildcats, on the other hand, were fired up because of their own on the road victory at Becker. Both teams came in 1-0 and determined to stay undefeated.

…The whistle blew. The crowd was ready and so were the players. The kick was booted deep in the end zone for a touchback. The Bluejacket offense was confident and ready for the challenge ahead. The opening drive was a strong show of confidence from the Bluejackets. 11 plays later, Kaden Slepica of the Jackets drew first blood in this long, challenging game. Jackson Lindberg lined up for the extra point and nailed it. 7-0 was the score.

The Bluejackets kicker Connor Braaten kicked the ball deep and the Wildcat offense started their drive on their own 27 yard line. The Wildcat offense marched down the field. Even though the Bluejacket defense was proving a hard challenge, the Wildcats managed to score on them. The Wildcat kicker was not a good follow up missing the extra point making the score 7-6 in the Bluejackets’ favor.

The next drive for the Jackets started at their own 26 yard line. The first play of the drive Gaven Ziebarth took the hand-off to the right and broke through the defense running all the way for an 84 yard touchdown, but it was called back because of a blindside hit. A few plays later Kaden caught a pass, broke a few tackles, and ran for a touchdown but that was called back due to another penalty. That concluded the first quarter.

Other than a few touchdowns, it was an uneventful second quarter ending with a lead for the Wildcats, 28-14. The Jackets seemed down but came out of the locker room strong in the second half scoring 6 points on a 24 yard touchdown pass to Austin Chromy in the third quarter. Jackson followed up with a good PAT. The Bluejacket defense kept the Wildcats from scoring in the third quarter, but the Wildcats were still leading, 28-21.

The Bluejackets defense continued to prevent the Wildcats from scoring in the fourth quarter. Bluejackets, down by a score, started their drive on the Wildcat 46 yard line. With zeros on the clock Brody throws up the ball and gets a pass interference call and they get the ball on the 31 yard line. With 6.2 seconds back on the clock because of the penalty, Brody takes the snap and rolls to his right. He fires deep and finds Luke Malamisuro in the back end zone for the touchdown. Jackson comes out and kicks the PAT; its good resulting in a tie game, 28-28, forcing the Wildcats and Bluejackets into overtime.

The Wildcats start at the 15 yard line and had 4 downs to score. They were unsuccessful due to an interception on the third down. It was now the Bluejackets turn. It was third down on the 8 yard line. Brody hands the ball of to Levi Wilkins, he scores to walk it off against the Chisago Lakes Wildcats in overtime 34-28. Fans jumped to their feet cheering for the Bluejackets win in overtime. “It was an exciting and hard fought win; the kids never gave up!” said an excited Head Coach Weibel, now 2-0.