By Bart Moss

For the FCT

There are no moral victories in sports, but the Tharptown Wildcats keep seeing progress as the season moves to the later stages.

The Wildcats lost to the Lynn Bears Friday night 24-14. For a team that struggled to score last season, the Wildcats have found themselves in some games lately that might have surprised casual onlookers.

“We are making progress,” said Tharptown Coach Kevin Lacey. “We are going to build a program from the ground up the right way. We are going to expect a lot out of our guys from an effort and discipline standpoint. In the end, I think results will begin to show.”

Tharptown trailed Lynn by only three points going into the fourth quarter of Friday night’s game.

Lynn jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but Carson Petree found Dakota Nolen for a 12-yard touchdown pass to cut into the Bears’ first half lead 14-7.

After the Bears kicked a field goal to extend their lead to 17-7, Peyton Price rushed for a 50-yard touchdown to cut the Lynn lead to 17-14.

That was as close as the Wildcats could get.

“I was really proud of how our guys competed tonight,” said Lacey. “We just need to keep building and keep growing up.”

Tharptown will host Waterloo Friday night for homecoming.