By TRAVIS MILLER
WEST LAFAYETTE — Even when he plays only three quarters, West Lafayette quarterback Daniel Wodicka is a dangerous player.
The standout signal caller missed most of the first quarter after cutting his non-throwing hand early in the game when Lewis Cass visited Class 3A No. 3-ranked West Lafayette. He returned early in the second quarter and ran for 154 yards, threw for 205 more, and scored two touchdowns each way to lead the Red Devils to a come-from-behind, 35-32 win over the Kings.
“Wodicka. I mean, what else can you say,” said West Lafayette coach Marshall Overley. “He just won that Ironman award for us and on a night when we had four or five starters go down, he was simply the last man standing out there.”
Wodicka saved his best for last. With Cass leading 32-28, the Kings had a chance to melt the clock away at the 6:24 mark of the final quarter, but the Red Devil defense forced a three and out. West Lafayette took over its own 21 with 3:45 left and Wodicka drove the Devils down the field.
The senior accounted for 69 of the 79 yards on West Lafayette’s victorious drive with either his legs or his arm. The other 10 came by virtue of a late-hit penalty on the Kings. Cass had a chance to close the game out on defense inside the 10 in the final minute, but Wodicka completed a two-yard pass to Andrew Pekny with 20 seconds left to give the Red Devils the lead.
“I thought the entire second half he played very well,” said Cass coach Scott Mannering. “He started out the second half by making plays and really stepped up when they had some guys go down. He’s a playmaker. I congratulate him because he is a fine football player.”
This game was defined by mistakes, as each team made the other pay for every miscue. Cass forced four turnovers and converted each turnover into a touchdown drive. Unfortunately, it was after the touchdowns that Cass suffered the most. West Lafayette kicker Sam McCartney was a perfect 5 for 5 on PAT kicks, while Cass missed two PAT kicks and converted just one of three two-point conversion attempts. Ultimately, those lost points were the difference in the game.
“I thought we executed very well in the second half, but we still made a lot of mistakes even though we covered them very well,” said Mannering. “We have to go out there on special teams and convert extra points and at the end we only needed one or two first downs to win this game. I’m very disappointed, but we did play better than last week.”
West Lafayette got on the scoreboard first when Wodicka’s backup Sean Busch completed a nine-yard touchdown pass to Pekny on West Lafayette’s first drive. That drive was set up when Cass lost a fumble at midfield on its first play from scrimmage.
Cass finally got on the scoreboard when QB Damon Foreman found Brody Edgerly for a 23-yard touchdown pass a few minutes before halftime. That score made it 7-6 West Side, but the Kings didn’t have to wait long to score again. West Lafayette lost a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Caleb Comoglio made it 12-7 three plays later with a touchdown with 1:23 left in the first half.
Unfortunately for the Kings, their defense was not up to the task, as it surrendered a 57-yard pass from Wodicka to Jonah Green just before the half to make it 14-12 in favor of the Devils.
The Kings weren’t able to take the lead again until Foreman dove in from 3 yards out with 7:42 remaining in the game to make it 32-28. The Kings then forced a three and out, but were unable to run out the clock.
Cass was led offensively by Derrick Worden, who ran for 90 yards and a touchdown while adding 48 yards on three receptions. Foreman ran for 50 yards and two scores while throwing for 100 and another score.
The Kings head home with an uncharacteristic 0-2 record to open Mid-Indiana Conference play against 2-0 Northwestern.
Cass is 0-2 for the first time since 1998. The Kings overcame their slow start that season to win the MIC title.
