It was a tale of two halves, as the usually prolific Wildcats couldn’t muster any sustained offensive success. They finally scored on the last play of the half, when Charlton took a swing pass from John Deetjen and weaved his way 36 yards down the sideline as time expired. s

The sudden strike narrowed the Cougars’ lead to 20-6 and gave the Wildcats momentum going into the second half, but it was short-lived, as Cougars back David Schultz took a handoff on the first play from scrimmage in the second half and broke two tackles en route to a 67-yard touchdown run that extended the lead to 26-6.

The Wildcats defense stiffened after that, however, and NBCA got back into the game after scoring runs by Charlton and Messenger. The inability to convert the extra points hurt the Cats, though, as they still trailed 26-18.

A long kickoff return set Austin Christian up at the NBCA 19-yard line and it quickly converted the good field position into a touchdown that put the game out of reach.

“Our sweep play was no good for us in the first half,” NBCA head coach John Davis said. “We ran nothing but traps and dives in the second half and had much better success.

“Lance’s running was unbelievable before he got hurt early in the fourth quarter and then Kurt turned it up a notch after that. Jordan Edwards did an outstanding job blocking on the inside to spring those backs loose. But unfortunately, Austin Christian was just too big and strong for us tonight.”

The Cats were able to generate only 25 yards passing in the contest, with Deetjen completing three passes and Messenger two. Messenger was also the leading receiver with two catches, while Charlton, Micah Brown, and Zeke Martinez grabbed one aerial apiece.

Deetjen was all over the field defensively as he led NBCA with 12 tackles while Edwards clocked in with eight stops. Rounding out the defensive effort were Cole McKinney with five tackles, Martinez and Charlton with four each, and Brown, Messenger, and Shawn Reneau with one stop apiece.

Austin Christian moves to 3-0 on the season with the win while the Wildcats fell to 1-2.

“They’re a quality team,” Messenger said of the Cougars. “We’ll work hard next week and come back stronger.”

The Wildcats hit the road next Saturday for an afternoon contest against Bracken Christian.