A balanced and explosive offense led the Cambridge Bears to a 42-36 win over the Westminster Wildcats Friday at The Bears Lair, in the region opener for both teams.
With the win, the Bears, ranked No. 9 in 4A, move to 7-0, 1-0 in Region 6, and are off to the best start in a program that dates to 2012. Bears senior quarterback Weston Taylor was 17 of 24 passing for 349 yards and four touchdowns and his leading receiver, junior Hudson Cocchiara, had 152 yards and three touchdowns on five catches.
After the Wildcats put together a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter to pull within 35-29 with 3:05 left, Taylor connected with Cocchiara on a play-action pass for a 68-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach. The decisive play came on the drive’s second play, on 2nd-and-12, after the Wildcats stuffed them for a 2-yard loss.
It was the Bears’ only points of the second half after leading 35-14 at halftime.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Bears first-year coach Tyler Jones said. “In the first half, I thought we came out with purpose, focus, and discipline, and we kind of got away from that, so that’s what made the game a lot closer in the second half, but I’m proud of how our guys have carried themselves throughout this season. It wasn’t pretty, but we did enough tonight.”
The Bears were scoring at will in the first half, cashing all five of their possessions for touchdowns. The game’s opening drive lasted 1:55 and spanned 65 yards and four plays, ending on Cocchiara’s first touchdown reception, from 11 yards out. After a Wildcats punt, the Bears used six plays to go 74 yards, with senior Tyler Blalock, who had 19 carries for 93 yards and two scores, scoring his first touchdown, this from seven yards out to make it 14-0 with 5:04 left in the first.
Early in the second quarter, Taylor hit Drew Hardwick for a 9-yard touchdown to make it 21-7. With 3:24 left, Blalock scored from six yards out, making it 28-14 with 3:24 left. The Wildcats’ ensuing possession ended in a turnover on downs at the Cambridge 40 with 0:47 left. The Bears took over, and four plays in to the drive, Taylor hit Cocchiara on a 24-yard pass, and the next play they connected for 25 yards and a touchdown with 14 seconds left.
“Our offensive staff did a good job planning for what they were going to present, we did a good job keeping them off-balance, a mix of run, pass,” Jones said. “I think we got a little conservative in the second half trying to run the ball, and they were selling out to that. So, we didn’t adjust soon enough. I think it’s the balance. That’s what makes us explosive. We can run the ball, we’ve got dynamic receivers on the outside, we’ve got a quarterback that’s a really good player so as long as we stay balanced we’re a hard team to defend.”
The Wildcats (3-4, 0-1) stayed in striking distance throughout the game thanks to the efforts of senior quarterback Michael Buhay, who accounted for all of his team’s touchdowns with three rushing and two passing. Both of his touchdowns and 128 yards came in the first half off 18 carries, but he was limited to just three net yards in the second half, finishing with 128 yards on 24 carries.
“I think he was a little more athletic and mobile than we thought,” Jones said. We were getting guys back there. We missed some tackles. He was able to chunk us, mainly on pass plays, so we started spying on him a little bit, had a guy dedicated to shutting down the scramble plays.”
While the Bears adjusted to Buhay in the second half, Jones said the offense struggled to control the game through the run, which led to the Wildcats’ 15-0 run. The Wildcats opened the third quarter with a touchdown drive that lasted 14 plays and took five minutes, ending in Buhay’s 1-yard run. Cambridge would punt on its next three possessions, and after the third the Wildcats scored again, this on a 13-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Buhay to senior Houston Gragnani, which made it 35-29 after Buhay’s run on the 2-point conversion.
Next week, the Bears travel to Centennial as they enter the thick of 6-4A, which also includes No. 4 Blessed Trinity and Kell.
“I’m not happy about the second half but the way we came out and started, we’re playing good football,” Jones said. “Our region is really good and we’re going to have some tough tests. Our goal is to win region and set ourselves up for the playoffs. That’s still all ahead of us and we’re going to have to get better if we want to accomplish those things.”
The Wildcats host Kell next week.
Westminster 7 7 7 15 - 36
Cambridge 14 21 0 7 - 42
C — Hudson Cocchiara 11 pass from Weston Taylor (Leo Attard kick)
C — Tyler Blalock 7 run (Attard kick)
W — Michael Buhay 12 run (Shaan Dhingra kick)
C — Drew Hardwick 9 pass from Taylor (Attard kick)
W — Buhay 1 run (Shaan Dhingra kick)
C — Blalock 14 run (Attard kick)
C — Cocchiara 25 pass from Taylor (Attard kick)
W — Buhay 1 run (Dhingra kick)
W — Houston Gragnani 5 pass from Buhay (Buhay run)
C — Cocchiara 68 pass from Taylor (Attard kick)
W — William Wickliffe 2 pass from Buhay (Dhingra kick)
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