In a close game that had fans sitting at the edge of their seat until the very end, West Chicago Community High School defeated the Streamwood Sabres 21-17 on Homecoming, Sept. 29.

Kickoff began at 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium, and the Wildcats took the early lead, with senior Vincent Muci, a running back/linebacker, scoring a touchdown just three minutes into the game. The Sabres fought back, scoring their own touchdown with 1:10 left in Q1, and squeezing in a field goal as time expired in the first half. Heading into halftime, the score was 7-11 in favor of Streamwood, and it was clear West Chicago’s offense and defense were working hard, but struggling against the Sabres.

The football team regrouped while WEGO’s marching band, as well as the cheer and dance teams, performed.

Coming back into the game, the Wildcats punched it in with a solid drive by Muci during the second half. Although the Sabres followed in hot pursuit, bringing the score to 14-17 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter, they could not recover once West Chicago’s Tommy Doyle, a wide receiver and running back, scored the Wildcats’ final touchdown of the game with 6.6 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Despite the fact Streamwood regained control of the ball in the final minutes of the game, they could not bounce back, especially when junior Diego Contreras, a tight end/linebacker, managed a major interception, allowing the Wildcats to take possession, and eventually win the game.

According to Coach Malko Odishoo, although the game had its ups and downs, and the team has a few issues to work through before going up against Glenbard next weekend, the team produced a strong performance on the field.

“All I can say is an ugly win is better than a pretty loss. Proud of the guys that we were able to stick it through,” Odishoo said.

For the Wildcats, who are now 4-2 overall, the game on Oct. 5 is considerable in more ways than one.

“We’re one off from going to playoffs, which really means a lot to the school. We’ve only gotten to the playoffs, like, three times out of seventy, eighty years, so it’s a lot for the community,” said senior Jonathan Soto, a tight end/linebacker for the Wildcats.