Last week Head Football Coach Craig Anhder asked his players to come out strong and play hard from the opening kickoff. In the first quarter the Bobcats did just that scoring on a long drive that resulted in a touchdown. The Cats followed up that drive with a kickoff return by Yabitse Wells ran back for a touchdown. Just like that it was 6-14 and Sky View was in the driver’s seat. Unfortunately for Sky View and the full house of loyal fans that was all the scoring the Bobcats would do and the Highland Rams from Pocatello, Idaho took over and methodically put points on the scoreboard, caging the Cats with a final score of 32-14.

Sky View opened up the first quarter with a big drive, around 90 yards, culminating in a Nick Carver 10 yard pass to Zach Allen to put the Bobcats on the board. The point after touchdown (PAT) duties were handled by Stacy Bair who punched through the extra point to send Sky View up with a score of 0-7 with just over four minutes left in the first quarter.
Highland answered back with a quick strike moving the ball down the field ending with an 8 yard run by Ian Filiaga. PAT’s were trouble for the Ram’s where Aaron Thompson missed on his first of two attempts, this one making the score 6-7.

Sky View would answer back on the ensuing kickoff when Yabitse Wells took the ball and maneuvered his way through traffic on an 88 yard return for a touchdown that combined with Bair’s second PAT put the Bobcats up 6-14 with just six seconds left on the clock going into the second quarter.

Highland stopped Sky View’s drives in the second quarter while putting up two scores of their own the first came on a drive that ended with a 4 yard Andre Lopez run followed by the second Thompson missed PAT on the night, and just like that the Ram’s were back in the game with the score now 12-14 with a little over seven minutes left in the half.

The Rams put more points on the board with 3:46 left on the clock with a 2 yard Lopez run and a Joel Jewell to Michael Beseris 3 yard pass for the 2 point conversion. That score sent the Rams into the locker room at half time up 20-14.

Highland added two more scores on the night with a 25 yard Jewell touchdown pass to Beseris followed up by a missed 2 point conversion. That third quarter score was followed up by a fourth quarter score on a 12 yard Filiaga touchdown run and another missed two point conversion pass, with just over two minutes left in the game, making the final score 32-14 in favor of the Rams.

Nick Carver struggled finding his receivers in his first outing for the Bobcats this year, completing 10 of 29 attempts for a total of 92 yards. Nick found the end zone one time with his first quarter touchdown pass to Allen, and finished with two interceptions. One interception ricochet off Dalton Goodie’s pads straight up in the air where a Highland Ram came down with it. Carver ended up with 92 yards passing against the Rams on Friday.

Carver was busy on the ground where he carried the ball 11 times for 50 yards. Alex Watts put up 14 more yards on the ground. Zach Allen had 1 rushing yard, leaving the bobcats with 65 total yards rushing on the night.

Dropped passes were the Achilles heel for the Cats on the night as several bounced in and out of the hands of the receiving corps. Leading Sky View in receiving was Zach Allen who caught 4 passes for 36 yards. Corbin Lee caught one for 25 yards, Sean Gero had one catch for 12 yards several of which he pounded out on the ground after the catch. Alex Watts caught a pair for 10 yards, and Brandon Burger added a 9 yard catch.

Defensively for the Bobcats Cole Bangerter and Milyon Chantry each had 5 solo tackles, Bangerter added 4 assists, while Chantry had an assist. Trey Hansen had 3 tackles and two assists, Hansen also had a 12 yard interception on the night. Garth Jolley was in on 9 tackles (2 solos, 7 assists), and Tyler Stephens had a pair of solo tackles and 4 assists. Yabitse Wells added to his kick return with a solo tackle and 6 assists. The team of Conner Chambers and Jaden Camphouse registered the Bobcats only sack of the night.

The Bobcats found themselves a bit undersized for the second week of the season against the Rams. They struggled most of the night to keep Highland away from Carver who spent a good deal of time scrambling Friday.

Sky View was forced to punt five times in the game averaging around 28 yards per punt.

This Friday will be no easier as Utah powerhouse Olympus comes to town with a 2-0 record fresh off a 21-14 victory over Northridge. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Sky View.

Scoring Summary