Staff photo / Mason Cole Struthers’ Anthony Carter is upended by a Lake Catholic defender during the Wildcats’ 28-25 victory.

BURTON — Every postseason run must have a little bit of magic.

The Struthers Wildcats saw their fair share Friday night as they defeated the Mentor Lake Catholic Cougars 28-25 at Great Lakes Cheese Stadium to advance to the Division IV regional final round for the first time in school history.

“It’s huge for the whole community,” Struthers head coach John Bayuk said. “When you look at our stands, there’s not a seat left in the house. We packed it, people are standing all over, for us to be able to make this run with them at our backs, it’s just something that’s a great story to tell. It’s just awesome.”

The Wildcats nearly had a disastrous start to the game.

Struthers’ first drive ended when, on only the third play of the drive, quarterback Jason Dukes threw an interception to Caden Boyes, giving the Cougars the ball with great field position at the Wildcats 32 yard line.

But, Struthers was able to come up with a defensive stop of its own.

Despite starting deep in Wildcat territory, Lake Catholic’s first drive fizzled out and ended with a missed field goal.

After the rocky opening drive, Struthers responded and drove down the field. Anthony Carter capped off the drive with a six-yard touchdown run, giving the Wildcats a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Carter said his team had to battle against a tough Lake Catholic defense.

“We were determined,” Carter said. “If we’re not getting something done, if we’re not running the ball correctly or getting the blocks we need, we’re going to find a way to get through it and find a way to prosper.”

On the following Cougar drive, Struthers had another huge defensive stand.

Lake Catholic had marched the ball down within the Wildcats 20 yard line. But again, Struthers was able to keep the Cougars out of the end zone. The Wildcats forced Lake Catholic to kick a field goal, cutting the Struthers lead to 7-3 with 8:42 in the second quarter.

Bayuk said his defense stood strong early in the game.

“We didn’t put our defense in very good spots tonight,” Bayuk said. “They did a great job making stands against an unbelievable offense.”

After the Cougar field goal, Struthers again marched down the field, capitalizing again with Carter who dragged several Cougars into the end zone on his 8-yard touchdown run. The Wildcats extended their lead to 14-3 late in the first half.

Carter was a force to be reckoned with throughout the game.

“He’s a workhorse,” Bayuk said. “He plays both sides of the ball. He wants the football. We ask him all the time if he needs a break and he doesn’t want it. He’s just a gamer.”

Lake Catholic ended the half strong — wide receiver Patrick Radigan hauled in a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Frankie Trinetti, with a two conversion, the Cougars cut Struthers’ lead to 14-11 at halftime.

But the Wildcats kept their foot on the gas to start the second half.

After a quick defensive stop, Struthers was able to further extend its lead and again, through the ground attack with Carter. His 8-yard touchdown run gave Struthers a 21-11 lead with 6:41 in the third quarter.

But, late in the third quarter, the Cougars turned misfortune into opportunity.

After a poor offensive drive, Lake Catholic caught the Wildcats special teams unit off guard with a fake punt-pass play that ended with the Cougars deep in Struthers territory.

Lake Catholic then cut the Struthers lead to 21-18 with a Trinetti touchdown pass to receiver Ace Peterlin with 3:30 left in the third.

The Cougars continued to battle throughout the second half.

Lake Catholic took a 25-21 lead midway through the fourth quarter on a 10-yard touchdown run by Josh Styles. It was the first lead of the game for the Cougars.

Despite all momentum shifting to Lake Catholic, the Wildcats did not back down.

“Our league got us ready for this kind of game,” Bayuk said. “We’ve had so many games come down to the last second and the last play and again, we had to come down to the last play.”

The last play for Struthers’ offense will go down in the program’s history books.

The Wildcats drove the ball to the Cougars 10 yard line. But, Struthers only had 0:10 remaining in the fourth quarter and no timeouts.

Needing to throw the ball to avoid letting the clock run down, Struthers trotted backup quarterback Najier Howard onto the field.

He stood in shotgun formation, Carter next to him in the backfield, Dukes lined up in the slot and receiver Robert Carcelli out wide to the left.

Howard took the snap and handed the ball to Carter — Carter ran right but then handed the ball to Dukes who was running an end-around back to the left — Dukes scrambled for a moment before lobbing a pass to Carcelli who was wide open in the left side of end zone for a touchdown.

Using a play often referred to as the “Philly Special,” Struthers took a 28-25 lead with under 10 seconds remaining.

“That was just something I had on my play sheet,” Bayuk said. “We don’t usually run it, but today it came in clutch for us.”

Lake Catholic’s Hail Mary attempt fell short. The Wildcats won 28-25.

Next week, Struthers will face No. 1 Canton South. It will be the first time The Wildcats have ever played in the regional final round.