Football is a game of inches. You don't have to tell the Cats that. In one of the most thrilling games of all time for the team the Cat's went into #2 Jesuits home turf and took the game to its final down.
Trailing most of the game the Cats rallied back late with tremendous defense and some nifty running by Hayes Garrity. Junior Quarterback Phillip Belding moved the ball with precision finding several targets along the way. The final drive had the Cats scoring on fourth-and-goal from the Jesuit 8-yard line when Belding zipped a touchdown pass to junior Arseniy Goldberg who made the catch in the back line of the end zone. This cut the lead to 24-23 with 27 seconds to play.
Not wanting to go into Overtime Coach Fisher and crew took their shot at a 2 point conversion and went for the win. Colin Forman took the ball behind his line and ran off the left side to the goal line. In a pile of bodies that pushed and pulled Forman the ball appeared to cross the goal line. In fact Forman ended up on his back with his waist and the ball over the line. The officials hesitated for about 30 seconds and seemed very uncertain before making the call that the attempt was no good.
Upon further review video shows the ball crossed the line and does not show Forman hitting the ground. This game belonged to the Cats but you can not expect a close play to go the way of a visiting team...especially not at Jesuit.
It was a great game and the Cats can move ahead with the knowledge that they can win the whole thing this year and that they are good enough to beat anyone. Hard nosed football all the way. One can not say enough about the effort of the Westview Line led by the two way play of Timote Pongi, Mike Saeks, and Michael Leunen.
The teams were also close in total yardage in the game as Westview gained 351 yards on 60 offensive plays while Jesuit had 344 yards on 54 plays.
Hayes Garrity rushed for 99 yards on 18 carries. Phillip Belding completed 16 of 30 passes for 171 yards while also rushing for 52 yards on eight carries. Alex Carey had six receptions for 61 yards.
This next week Westview will be home to face Beaverton in 7:30 p.m. Metro League games.
Read the articles below:
Oregonian
Tribune
