Cats secure playoff berth, share of FML title

With a state playoff berth already secured, the Oxford Wildcats claimed a three-way share of the Flint Metro League championship last week with a 24-3 victory over Holly.
Oxford will host Flushing on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the first round of the playoffs. Flushing finished its regular season at 7-2 in the Big Nine Conference. Flushing finished behind Davison and Grand Blanc in the Big Nine standings.
The Wildcats made sure there were no stumbles against Holly, which would have cost the team a share of the title.
The Cats shared the title with Fenton and Linden. All three teams finished 8-1. Oxford shared the league title in 2007 with Lapeer West.
Against Holly last week, Oxford held only a 3-0 lead at halftime. Matt Versteeg kicked a 33-yard field goal with 8 seconds left before halftime.
Nick Tombrella put the Cats up 10-0 with a one yard run with 8:39 left in the third quarter. Prescott Line added another one-yard run with 3:54 left in the third quarter.
Holly got its only points to start the fourth quarter on a 31-yard field goal.
Line added Oxford’s final TD with 8:11 left in the game. Versteeg kicked all three conversions for the Cats.
In addition to his two TDs, Line led the Wildcat’s attack with 136 yards rushing on 16 carries.
Tombrella added 78 yards rushing and 36 passing as the Wildcats amassed 325 yards in offense.
The Wildcat defense has been stingy in recent games, allowing Holly only 124 total yards.
The Cat’s defense will need to be tough against a high scoring Flushing team on Friday. The Raiders recently racked up 50 points in a game against Grand Blanc, but still lost 55-50.