Wildcats thrash Vipers

OREM — The semipro Wasatch Wildcats put an exclamation point on their season Saturday with a 44-0 thrashing of the Davis Vipers to run their record to 9-4.

In the first round in the Minor League Football Association playoffs that begin Aug. 27, though, the Wildcats face a daunting task — defeating the South Ogden Rhino-Raiders on the road.

Twice already this year, Wasatch has fallen to the Rhino-Raiders: 20-14 in June, and 24-9 on July 9.

"Well, I guess our outlook is eternally optimistic," Wasatch owner Dave Rooker said. "In the playoffs, you play who you get set up against. I like our chances; we hope that the third time will be the charm."

In order to win, the Wildcats will need to win the turnover battle, establish the running game, and block better along the offensive line, Rooker said. The Wasatch offense will do its best to bludgeon the South Ogden defense with leading rusher and former BYU running back Marcus Whalen.

"Marcus is still going to be the focus of our offense," Wildcats head coach Eric Drage said. "But the Rhino-Raiders have taken him away from us (in the two previous meetings) and forced other people to beat them.

"Somehow we've got to get Marcus on track. It's going to come down to the guys in the trenches. They need to open up some holes — (Marcus) doesn't need a lot of room."

Wasatch finished second in the Rocky Mountain Football League's Wasatch Division behind South Ogden. The Wildcats' second loss to the Rhino-Raiders knocked Wasatch out of the RMFL playoffs. Since then, the Wildcats have played two tune-ups in preparation for the MLFA single-elimination tournament — a 27-0 loss to the Southern California Smash Aug. 6, and then Saturday's domination of Davis.

The contest with South Ogden — which kicks off at 7 p.m. at Ben Lomond High School in Ogden — will boil down to execution, Drage said.

"We've got to take care of the ball," Drage said. "We can't put our defense in a position where they're defending a short field. And we've got to stop the big plays — no one has ever completely taken (South Ogden's) playmaking wide receivers out of the game."

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