Maybe they shouldn’t have played the Meow Mix jingle at the Frank Erwin Center when they introduced the Kats.
In the end, the scoreboard read 70-63, but Saturday’s game was really a defensive battle. Sweetass Wranglers wide receivers Derrick Lewis and Otis Amey managed to grab two TDs apiece, but it was defensive lineman Rob Schroeder who twice kept the momentum from swinging entirely toward Nashville by blocking an extra point and recovering a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.
Kats WR Cornelius Bonner, offensive player of the game, caught three touchdown passes after a savage end-zone hit in the first quarter left him standing on his head on the wrong side of the boards, but defensive back Ahmad Hawkins secured undisputed MVP by catching three interceptions, one for a touchdown, and pulling down a failed Wranglers onside-kick attempt for some really killer field position.
The Wranglers just couldn’t catch a break Saturday, in a game full of turnovers (including two interceptions thrown by backup QB Lang Campbell in the Wranglers’ first three possessions), penalties, and risks that didn’t pay off (the already mentioned interception for a TD and two failed onside-kick attempts, one with the score tied in the last minutes of the game).
The Wranglers are now 1-3 this season, and, in a statistic I can’t even imagine someone keeping track of, Saturday was the first time in history for the Wranglers to lose the fourth game of the season. Though, honestly, if you were betting on the game based on the old “Wranglers never lose the fourth game of the season” strategy, I hope you lost a whole lot of money.
Bonus fact that I couldn’t find a graceful segue to in the story: The Nashville Kats are owned by famous country music star and Faith Hill humper Tim McGraw.
The Wranglers travel to Dallas Saturday to face the as-of-right-now undefeated Desparados. They return to the Frank Erwin Center Friday, April 6, to play the Utah Blaze.
This article appears in March 23 • 2007.