Cats down Tigers to win league

CLARK FORK — Sophomore quarterback Cameron Garcia had another big day, and the Wampus Cats ran their record in league play to 3-0 after a 50-24 win over Mullan/St. Regig on Friday night in North Star League football in Clark Fork.

The Cats (3-1, 3-0 NSL) shot themselves in the foot in the first half with penalties and turnovers, and were tied 6-6 with the Tigers (1-2, 0-1 NSL).

The third quarter was a different story, with Garcia intercepting two passes at safety and Nate Hernandez nabbing another, helping lead to a 30 point quarter to blow a close game open.

“At halftime I told them to settle down and play mistake free Wampus Cat football. We have two quarters to win the North Star League, somthing we haven’t done since 2005. I asked them how bad they wanted it,” described Cats coach Brian Arthun. “The kids responded. Cameron took over and made some big runs for touchdowns, and the picks were key to the third quarter.”

Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding with the Idaho High School Activities Association, the NSL title does not guarantee the Wampus Cats a trip to state, as they will still have to compete with the White Star League teams for the berth.

Despite the two leagues being separated this season, the playoff berths are just like before, but Arthun still feels like his team has a shot to beat Deary or Kendrick and get to state.

Especially if they play like the second half of Friday night.

“Defensively, we played really well. We’re hitting and tackling well. Offensively had a ton of penalties and a couple turnovers, just couldn’t get things going in the first half,” said Arthun. “I can’t be more proud of a group of kids. We talked about our goal of winning the North Star League, they rose to the challenge and got it done.”

Clark Fork is at Northport in Washington next Friday.

Mullan 0 6 12 6 — 24

Clark Fork 6 0 30 14 — 50

Complete scoring recap and stats were unavailable at press time.