By Josh Staloch
Staff Writer

GREEN BAY – It was their final shot at a home win for the 2021 campaign, and Green Bay West made the most of it.

The Wildcats came up with a huge stop in the final seconds to preserve a 14-13 Fox River Classic Conference victory over Green Bay East Oct. 1.

“Hats off to East on a hard-fought game,” West Head Coach Skylar Liebzeit said. “Our kids battled, and it was nice to see them play with heart tonight, until the end, zeroes on the clock. The energy throughout the building was great all day. The kids had support from the
student body, their parents and their teachers. You saw the crowd tonight, it was electric. We haven’t seen that here in so long.”

The game got dramatic late.

With the score deadlocked 7-7, the fourth quarter got underway with the Red Devils putting together a nice drive, one that began at their own 20.

Running back Isiah Lyons ground out some tough yards on East’s way into the Wildcats red zone before quarterback Evan Chanthadouangsy scored on a keeper from three yards out.

But the extra-point kick was no good, and the Red Devils had to settle for a 13-7 advantage with about nine minutes left to play.

On the ensuing kickoff, Jaysean Wright, a 6-foot-1, 265-pound lineman, took possession of a short kickoff and rumbled his way into East territory to set his team up at the 45-yard line.

“I wasn’t thinking about it – I was just trying to do whatever I could do to help my team,” Wright said.

Wildcats quarterback Trey Stevens-Broadnax got right to it on first down, completing a pass along the sideline to DJ Broadnax for 15 yards.

Then, on third and 13, Stevens-Broadnax kept the ball for a 29-yard scramble that got West down to the 5-yard line.

Stevens-Broadnax came up big on the following second-down play with a perfect pass into the middle of the end zone to find Quavious Brodnax.

A Daniel Bigirimana extra point gave the Wildcats the 14-13 edge with about seven minutes remaining in the game.

The Red Devils began the next drive at their own 29 and were able to pick up a couple of big first downs, mostly on the legs of Lyons, to get into West territory with time peeling off the clock.

It came down to a 24-yard field goal attempt from Harry Beyler with 10 seconds remaining.

West’s special teams came up big, as a pair of purple jerseys came through and blocked the kick.