Week 4 – Character Win – Wildcats versus Grenadiers.
In all sports, whether it’s professional, varsity or minor, the idea of a character win is something special. Teams usually achieve this whenever the group has faced some form of adversity during the game or overall, in their season.
It’s a turning point that will get the players to dig in deeper, buying in and trying to grind out a win when many people thought may not be possible.
It happened on Saturday afternoon when the Wildcats met the Kingston Grenadiers. As I sat and watched the first few quarters, I felt that the Wildcats were not ready to take on this team. Kingston looked faster, hit harder, and got the ball to their receivers better than Cornwall.
It wasn’t easy for the Wildcats to score, as Kingston’s offence piled up the points.
One of the takeaways from this game is the Grenadiers were much more physical and aggressive in their tackles and hitting. Cornwall was doing all they could, but it looked like a struggle to get going.
Once the second half began, the turning point occurred when Wildcats star receiver Noah Cardinal took a blistering hit to his side that knocked him on his back. As he is one of the key players on the offence, it looked grim for a while. Once he was off the field, things started to turn in Cornwall’s favour.
Whether it was Kingston easing off the gas pedal or the Wildcats deciding to turn it on, the Wildcats began taking it to Kingston, making an incredible comeback. With less than 3 minutes in the game, Cornwall ended up closing the gap and scored a touchdown that was called back.
This gave the Wildcats more resolve. With less than a minute remaining, the team managed to score another touchdown and kick a field goal to tie the game. After a mistake by Kingston, the Wildcats got the ball back again and put themselves in a position to get a field goal for a 24-21 win.
The comeback was an amazing finish for a team that looked down and out the first two quarters. This was a well-deserved pure character win for the staff and helping build up the team more as they face their next opponent.
The Wildcats will be on the road and face another old nemesis in the Cumberland Panthers. They will be playing at Carleton University on Sunday, June 18th, at 3:30 PM.
Amazing game, Wildcats!
Ryan