WATERFORD - The Waterford Wildcats snapped a five game losing streak with a 41-18 victory over Green Friday on Homecoming Night.
The Tom Tucker-led Wildcats rolled for 301 yards on the ground, 218 of which came from running back Hunter Munjas. Munjas also had three rushing touchdowns and a pick six to lead the team.
Devon Patterson, filling in for injured quarterback Brian Moore, managed the game well. Patterson threw for 73 yards and rushed for 24 more while throwing no interceptions in his first career start under center.
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ART SMITH The Marietta Times
Waterford’s Hunter Munjas (22) drags a Green tackler forward during prep football action Friday night.
"Devon's a senior," Tucker said. "He worked hard in practice, and he really wanted to do it. He did a nice job."
"I just came out and just did what we practiced all week," Patterson said. "We went over stuff tons of times. We would run offense for two hours straight at practice. We just made sure we did our jobs and everyone blocked and got their assignments."
Waterford was able to overcome three lost fumbles and a 12-6 deficit by scoring 35 points in the fourth quarter.
Fact Box
Waterford 41, Green 18
Green (3-4) 0 0 12 6 - 18
Waterford (2-5) 0 6 0 35 - 41
1st quarter:
None
2nd quarter:
W- Hunter Munjas 5 run, kick failed, 11:51
3rd quarter:
G- Robbie Applegate 56 run, kick failed, 10:19
G- Frazier 27 pass from Applegate, conversion failed, 0:18
4th quarter:
W- Munjas 33 run, Wyatt Porter pass from Devon Patterson conversion, 10:33
W- Munjas 8 run, Munjas run conversion, 7:07
W- Austin Lang 34 interception, kick failed, 6:45
W- Munjas 15 interception, Josh Stewart kick, 6:29
W- Jacob Stewart 1 run, kick failed, 3:36
G- Levi Mollett 25 run, conversion failed, 0:16
Team stats:
Waterford: First downs: 15; Penalties/yards: 6/55; Total yards: 374; Rushing: 45-301, 4td; Passing: 3-5-73; Fumbles/lost: 5/3
Individual stats: Waterford: Rushing: Munjas 22-218, 3td; Jacob Stewart 7-41, 1td; Austin Lang 1-18; Patterson 15-24; Passing: Patterson 3-4-73; Wyatt Porter 0-1; Receiving: Austin Shriver 3-73
Next game: Southern at Waterford Friday
Munjas had touchdown runs of 33 yards and eight yards in the final quarter, as well as a 15 yard interception return for a score. Austin Lang also had an interception return for a touchdown from 34 yards out, while fullback Jacob Stewart had a one yard run for paydirt to complete the Wildcat scoring.
Waterford was in desperate need of win, after dropping five straight prior to winning its opener 34-14 against Miller. Tucker said mistakes kept the game closer than it should have been early in the game.
"We knew everything was there, we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot," Tucker said. "We knew we could run the ball effectively, so we just had to cut out the mistakes. (Mistakes) have kind of bit us in the butt the last five weeks."
Waterford got on the scoreboard first on its second possession, which began at its own six yard line. A 35 yard run by Munjas gave the Wildcats better field position, followed by a five yard run by Patterson that drew a 15 yard face mask penalty to put the ball at the Green 37.
On a 4th and 9 situation, Munjas powered for a 12 yard gain to get a crucial first down. After a holding call on Waterford moved the ball back to the 30, Patterson hit Austin Shriver on a 25 yard pass play to set up 1st and goal from the five. From there, Munjas would reach the end zone to give the Wildcats a 6-0 lead with 11:51 in the half.
The Bobcats answered early in the second quarter with a 56 yard touchdown run by Robbie Applegate to tie it at 6-6. Later in the quarter, Green struck again on a 27 yard touchdown hookup from Clay Applegate to Kyle Frazier. The two point conversion failed, making the score 12-6.
On the next possession, after Jaret McCutcheon returned the ball to Waterford's 41 yard line, Patterson hit Shriver on a 16 yard gain. Munjas took over from there, rushing for nine yards and then 33 more for a touchdown. Patterson hit Wyatt Porter on the conversion to give the Wildcats a 14-12 lead.
From there, the Wildcats went on a scoring binge, running it up to 41-12 before Levi Mollett ran in for a 25 yard touchdown with 16 seconds left to make it 41-18.
"It's big for the kids," Tucker said of the victory. "They needed this. I thought we were the better team, we just had to come out and execute things. It's been the longest five weeks. We're pretty excited."
Munjas agreed and added "It is huge. We were feeling down about the five losses. I thought we came out and performed well and did what we needed to do."
Munjas, who has had big individual performances all season long, gave credit to his offensive line.
"I would be nothing without my line," Munjas said. "They just made key blocks and gave me wide open holes to run with."
Along with Munjas, Stewart ran for 41 yards on seven carries. Shriver was the leading receiver with 73 yards on three catches. The Wildcats gained 374 total yards in the game while converting 15 first downs.
Waterford improves to 2-5 on the season, and will host Southern next week in a Tri-Valley Conference match up.
