It’s that time of year - win or go home.

The Wildcats were heavily favored in the first round game against the Raiders of North Garland, but being favored in the state playoffs doesn’t win games, let alone championships.

The Raiders came out of the gate swinging, playing like underdogs with something to prove, and managed to force a fumble on the opening kickoff.

Raiders quarterback, Anthony McGhee, took advantage of the early Wildcat turnover and quickly scored his first of three touchdowns on a 17-yard keeper.

The early Raider touchdown seemed to rattle the Wildcat defense, which came into the state playoffs rated the number one defense in the DFW area.

While the Raiders took an early lead, the Wildcats had a quick answer on their first play from the line of scrimmage.

‘Cats quarterback Ricky Zorn executed a fake reverse to perfection then pulled up to hit senior utility man, James Duke, for a 70-yard TD pass.

With the score tied at 7-7, the Raiders took the field with their one man show and rattled off a 14-play, 86-yard drive that resulted in another McGhee touchdown.

“We knew coming into the game that McGhee was a great player, and we’d have to contain him,” said Wildcat Head Coach Scott Smith after the game. “They showed us a few looks on offense that we hadn’t seen on film, so we had to make some adjustments.”

If the Raider game plan was to change things up and play keep away, it was working well. The Wildcat offense managed only 6 plays in the first quarter, 14 total plays in the first half.

Fortunately, the ‘Cats offense, lead by Ricky Zorn, appeared to be hitting on all cylinders following Zorn's recovery from an injury several weeks ago. While the ‘Cats offense wasn’t on the field most of the first half, they took advantage of the chances they got.

The second offensive series for the ‘Cats resulted in another Zorn TD pass. This time Zorn would hit senior wide receiver, Wesley Garth, for a 13-yard touchdown.

The Raiders offense then took the field for yet another long, time consuming drive. Once again, North Garland took the lead with McGhee scoring on a 3-yard scamper.

The score was 21-14, Raiders at the half.