Don't write off the Wildcats. Not yet.
Defending state champion Millard West may have salvaged its season with Thursday night's amazing rally against No. 2 Omaha Burke.
Trailing 28-10 with 2 minutes left in the first half, the Wildcats scored the final 46 points for a 56-28 victory that evened their record at 2-2.
“We knew they were going to come out fighting and wanted to get back on track,'' said Burke coach Paul Limongi, a former Millard West assistant coach.
Millard West took some momentum into halftime with a field goal, then exploded for four touchdowns in the third quarter:
• A 23-yard run by Vincenzo Guido, capping an 80-yard drive to open the second half.
• A 76-yard punt return by senior Zach Leinbaugh, who last week lost his starting position at quarterback to junior Zach Whitham.
• A 95-yard burst up the middle by Guido, for the Wildcats' first lead.
• An 80-yard pass play from Whitham to Darius Evans, after a mental miscue by Burke on a punt resulted in a touchback rather than the ball inside the 5.
“We came out in the second half and just executed our game plan,'' West coach Kirk Peterson said. “We got into trouble the past two weeks because we didn't handle losing very well and tonight we responded a little bit. We got the execution along with the toughness somewhat tonight.
“We just got rolling and everything just started happening good for us. We hadn't had any breaks, hadn't created any breaks all season, and we just got some breaks tonight. This was a serious gut-check time for us.''
After mustering only 19 points in its first three games, Millard West rolled up 319 yards rushing and 207 passing.
Contact the writer:
444-1041, stu.pospisil@owh.com
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