After this most recent 23-20 win over Westerville Central, the ‘Cats are off to Toledo, Ohio for their first playoff game.

Prior to the big double-overtime win, Westerville South had slim to no chance of making the playoffs. Immediately after a strong 4-0 start this season, South went on to lose to Reynoldsburg, Olentangy, and Olentangy Liberty. Losing against these stronger teams showed that they were not ready to take them on in the regular season, let alone in playoffs.

The struggle to win over Westerville Central was brought to a point in the very end.  After Central scored two quick third quarter touchdowns, South scrambled in the fourth quarter to squeeze in another touchdown, tying the game at 20 points each. After neither team scored in overtime, the game went into double overtime, when junior Matt Bame brought home the win with a game-winning field goal.

The ‘Cats trained hard to go after Central, according to senior Jaelon Gordon, and they came back as the best team in the city. But preparing for playoffs is a different animal in terms of mindset. Winning this game is the difference between practice on Monday, or turning their pads in.

While it would seem that the ‘Cats are doing all that they can do to prepare for this game against St. John’s Jesuit, from the outside looking in, the team still has a lot of work to do if they want to be back on the practice field next week.

Casey Brewer, a Wildcats fan and P.E. teacher in the athletic department said, “The special teams had some missed opportunities like tipped punts and missed snaps. I’d like to see more offensive execution.”

This game makes all the difference for the program for the next few years. Gordon said, “This week, only 32 teams practiced, and 16 are going home. This group can’t be one of them. It’s time to leave a legacy here.”