Gouverneur Wildcats on hunt for final four berth

GOUVERNEUR, New York (WWNY) - The Gouverneur Wildcats find themselves one win away from a spot in the state Class C final four after a thrilling 13-10 come-from-behind win over Saranac Central last Friday night.

The Wildcats continue a successful season that saw the team go undefeated in Northern Athletic Conference play and win the Section X Class C championship.

Gouverneur coach Sean Devlin says expectations were high heading into the 2023 season.

“We knew at the beginning of the year that we had 19 or 20 seniors returning and we knew that there was a lot of playing time, a lot of veterans coming back,” Devin said. “We knew that we were going to expect guys who’ve been around for a couple years to step up and be the senior leaders that they have been.”

The Wildcats’ season came to an end in the state quarterfinals last season and after that loss to Warrensburg-Lake George, the team went back to work with the goal of making a deeper run this season.

“After our loss to Warrensburg last year we all knew what losing felt like,” player Gage Cornell said. “We didn’t want to feel that again, so we all got in the weight room and worked extra hard over the summer.”

“We have a process that we go through every day,” Raine Rumble said. “We’ve got to trust the process, work hard at practice, and just keep everything flowing.”

The Wildcats were an offensive juggernaut in the regular season, scoring 322 points. Quarterback Holden Stowell says the key to that success began up front.

“The linemen do a good job at practice working every day,” he said. “During the games they open up a lot of holes for our running backs to get through and they do a great job pass protecting for me.”

Next up for the Wildcats is a meeting with Fonda-Fultonville on Friday night at OFA with kickoff set for 7 p.m.

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