CLARK FORK — Friday night’s game saw a 42-14 win for the Clark Fork Wampus Cats over the Wallace Miners.

While the team was down in the first half, that only left them with something to prove, Coach Brian Arthun said.

The festivities started with a 62-yard pass from Miners’ quarterback Landon Streeter to running back Julian Davis, who ran it in just a minute into the first quarter. The two-point conversion failed.

Less than a minute later, Wampus Cats’ running back Chase Sanroman ran the ball 48 yards to tie the game. The Cats also failed on the two-point conversion.

The first quarter dragged on, with Clark Fork's Jackson Clemens scooping up a turnover with a minute-and-a-half left.

In the second quarter, Wallace had the Cats on the ropes. Wallace quarterback Parker Goldade scored on a sneak from the one yard line and then did the same for the two-point conversion to put Wallace in the lead 14-6 halfway through the second quarter.

Clark Fork quarterback Ethan Howard did almost the same play, running the ball in from one yard out, but the Cats did not get the conversion. The teams went into halftime with Wallace up 14-12.

But something happened during those ten minutes in the lockerroom.

When Clark Fork emerged, they had a theme. As Arthun put it, “hit hard.”

And hit hard they did. Wallace struggled to advance even a few yards for most of the second half and did not score again. Defensive lineman Antonio Mayorga had several blocks that could be compared to crashing your bike into a brick wall.

Mayorga also doubled as a running back and, less than four minutes into the second half, he found paydirt right up the middle from three yards out. Sanroman followed that up with a successful two-point conversion.

With 2:30 left in the third quarter, defensive back Hank Barnett intercepted a pass and on the next play Sanroman ran the ball into the endzone. Tight end Clemens then caught the ball for another two points to end the third quarter with Clark Fork up 28-14.

The fourth quarter saw another touchdown from Sanroman, who ran the ball from the 10-yard line a little over a minute into the quarter. They went for and did not get the two-point conversion.

The final touchdown was scored by offensive linemen Wyatt Mintken. With 4:30 left in the game, Mintken ran the ball up the middle, pushing through Wallace’s defensive line to make the score at 40-14. The two-point conversion was scored by offensive linemen Hudson McDaniel.

For their next game, Arthun wants the team to focus on tightening their defensive formation from the gitgo. “They woke up in the second half.”

The Wampus Cats are hoping to repeat their success at an away game against Logos in Moscow next Friday.