The Herculaneum Black Cats spoiled Cuba High School’s Wildcat Pride Night with a 35-8 thumping of the local Cats, leaving frustrated players and coaches in Black and Gold.

Cuba dropped to 2-3 on the season with the loss and Herculaneum moved to 2-3 with the victory.  The Wildcats will lick their wounds and have an opportunity to bounce back in its Homecoming game Friday, Oct. 2 versus Pleasant Hope.

Each team’s defense reigned supreme in the opening quarter. Halfway through the frame, Cuba’s defense forced a fumble and recovered at the Black Cat’s 15-yard line. But the Wildcats couldn’t cross the goal line, and the game remained scoreless heading into the second quarter.

Herculaneum began asserting itself in the second period, continually gaining large chunks of yardage on most carries. The Black Cats poured on three rushing touchdowns in the second quarter and made two out of three extra point attempts to take a 20-0 halftime lead over Cuba.

The Wildcats came out strong in the beginning of the second quarter, forcing multiple Herculaneum punts. Cuba followed by posting its best drive of the evening late in the frame, capped off by a 12 yard touchdown run from senior running back Ethan Noltkamper who used multiple efforts to fight his way into the end zone. Carter Medows then crossed the pylon on the two-point conversion attempt to make it a 20-8 game with 1:31 left in the third quarter.

However, Herculaneum would regain control of the game, scoring twice in the fourth quarter to spoil any chance of a Cuba comeback.

Kaleb Cason, Cuba’s head football coach, said afterward that Herculaneum’s linemen controlled the game.

“They pushed us around,” Cason said. “We got pushed back on defense, and they just chunked us five yards at a time all the way down the field. And then their D-line got a good push on offense, and really kept us from crossing line scrimmage more than we wanted to.”

The Wildcats once powerful offensive line has become thin in recent weeks. Zane Brown, senior captain and starter on both sides, is most likely out for the season with an injury sustained in a car accident. Brown was in attendance for the game for the first time since the accident and received a standing ovation from the crowd when he was driven onto the field in a golf cart.

Cuba’s starting left tackle Judah Folz, was also out with an injury so the Wildcats were left shorthanded at multiple positions.

Despite the injuries, Cason said he was upset that his team didn’t finish the game with the same energy it played with in the third quarter.

“I didn’t like how we finished the game,” he said. “I thought in the fourth quarter that was the first time I’d watched us give up all year, and I said that if we want to be a good football team, you can’t give up no matter what happens. We just got to fight.”

Noltkamper led Cuba with 100 yards rushing and a touchdown on 17 carries while adding eight tackles on defense. Medows ran for 39 yards on 13 carries, completed the two-point conversion, caught two passes for eight yards and recovered a fumble on defense. Nicholas Gipson ran for 11 yards on five carries and made five tackles at linebacker. Jesse Shireman had a 13 yard run, but finished with negative rushing yards because he was sacked multiple times. Shireman also completed four out of eight passing attempts for 48 yards and made two tackles on defense. Sophomore wide receiver Trey Gambill caught two passes for 36 yards.

Steelville senior Will Bailey continued to lead the Wildcats’ defense, racking up 10 tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss. That was the third time in five games Bailey has tallied double digit tackles.

Kaden Brooks had four tackles, Damion Ferguson made three tackles and a tackle for loss, Luke Whittaker added three tackles and Seth Adderly chipped in two tackles for Cuba’s defense.

Homecoming coronation will take place Friday at 6:15 p.m. at Wildcat Pride Field. Kickoff will be at its usual 7 p.m. starting time.