Wildcat season ends with quarterfinal loss

The defending 6-man State Champion Fleming Wildcats were stopped short in their quest for a third consecutive State title last Friday with a quarterfinal loss to the Idalia Wolves.

Returning to the field following a week hiatus brought about by a Hanover forfeiture, the Fleming Wildcats were given home-field advantage for the quarterfinal contest.

The fifth ranked Fleming Wildcats and the fourth ranked Idalia Wolves met during the regular season on Idalia's home field. The local team suffered their first 6-man loss of the year in that contest by a mere eight points, 32-24.

The first game between the two teams saw Fleming down by just eight; last week's event looked much different. Idalia's offense came out to take a 29-point lead in the opening 10 minutes, 29-0.

The Wolves opening quarter performance went unmatched by the Wildcats before the close of the half. Despite finding the end zone in the second quarter while fending off the Wolves' offense, the Wildcats trailed at the half, 29-6.

Idalia returned after halftime to tack on another 13-unanswered points and the Wolves went up 42-6.

Fleming's top offensive showing came in the fourth quarter as they added 22 points. The Wildcats also gave up 22 points to the visiting team and score settled with Idalia on top, 64-28.

The loss ends the Wildcats' season and allows the Wolves to advance to the semifinal game against the top-ranked Cheyenne Wells Tigers.

Fleming finished the season at 6-0 in their league. They closed with a 9-3 overall record with an 8-man loss to Haxtun and two losses to Idalia. With the completion of the season, the team bids farewell to seniors Hayden Burr, Nate Betley, Joel Muller and Maddix Welch.

Individual stats for the game were not reported as of press time. Watch future editions of the Herald for this year's All-Conference honorees.