The question all season long has been which Wildcat team is going to show up. Will it be the team that thrashed Franklin 47-0 or the team that couldn’t focus at homecoming and loses to Rainier Beach 47-7.

This team seems to thrive when they get the lead early, but when they get behind it’s a different story. Call it overachieving or underachieving. It doesn’t matter. The Cats become more prone to mistakes when they’re behind. The latter was the case on Saturday night, spotting 14 points to a Spartan team that was under .400 for the season and had a long bus ride from the island.

West Seattle kept it within reach in the first half, going into the locker room down 27-13. There was a missed opportunity in the first half with the score 21-6 when Bainbridge tried an onside kick that the Wildcats recovered on the 50 yard line, but the Cats couldn’t capitalize on the heads up play and went three and out.

West Seattle got the ball to start the second half and promptly gave the ball back on a Jamie Maple interception which the Spartans quickly converted to seven more points and extended their lead to 34-13.
The Wildcat woes continued on their next possession when Jamie Maple, under pressure, threw his third interception of the game. The Spartan offence wasted no time and in a three play drive matriculated the ball across the goal line for another score. The extra point was missed but the Bainbridge lead increased to 40-13. Coach Yarrington pulled Maple and put in Joey Kane for the remainder of the game.

The Cats defense fought hard all game long but they could not stop the Spartan offensive attack. Bainbridge ran off tackle for yardage, they ran the edges for yardage, and passed for yardage. In horse racing jargon, the trifecta.

With forty seconds left in the game, and down 47-13, West Seattle backup quarterback #7 Joey Kane connected with Joe Ylagan #12 on the back edge of the endzone for a score that would make the outcome more respectable, and as time expired the scoreboard told the story. 47-20.

The model for this team seems to be, get ahead and win, get behind and lose. They’ll find their character, and be better, when they learn to overcome adversity.

The West Seattle Herald apologizes to Bainbridge fans for not stating any player’s names. The team roster was not available for this game.