It took a little while for Wilmington to record its first touchdown Saturday afternoon in a Class 2A first-round playoff game against West Hancock.

Once they did score, though, the Wildcats didn’t stop. They put up 42 points in the second quarter alone and came away with a 70-8 win that was every bit as dominant as the score indicates.

It didn’t start out that way.

West Hancock (6-4) received the opening kickoff and proceeded to take nearly nine minutes off the clock while driving to the Wildcats’ 1-yard line, where they had second-and-goal. Wilmington stopped the Titans twice for no gain, West Hancock was whistled for a false start on fourth-and-1, and a pass to the end zone fell incomplete, turning the ball over on downs.

Two runs by Nate Cupples and one by Hunter Kaitschuk moved the ball to the Wilmington 26 before Ryan Kettman announced his presence with authority. Kettman broke a pair of tackles on his run through the middle and raced 74 yards for a touchdown with 1:12 to play in the first quarter. The first of Evan Ostheim’s 10 extra-point kicks gave the Wildcats (9-1) a 7-0 lead.

Kettman finished the game by scoring on all three of his carries. He added TD runs of 51 and 11 yards to finish with 136 yards and three touchdowns.

“I’ve never had a game like that,” Kettman said about scoring every time he carried the ball. “Not even in Pee-Wee football. The offensive line was great today. The holes they made for all of the backs to run through were huge.”

After surrendering 88 yards on the game’s opening drive, it was time for the Wilmington defense to assert itself. That it did, on the next Titans possession.

On the second play of the second quarter, Wimington linebacker Declan Moran intercepted a pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown. Wilmington forced a three-and-out, and Kettman went 51 yards for a TD on the first play. The Wildcats then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and, after an 8-yard gain by Ryan Schraeger, Kettman went 11 yards for his third and final score and a 28-0 lead with 8:39 still to play in the first half.

Moran started the next Titans drive by tackling Chandler Dadant for a 6-yard loss, then he broke up a pass on second down. On third down, Wilmington’s Fynn Bryant knocked down a pass and forced a West Hancock punt.

On the Wildcats’ first play, Kaitschuk went 47 yards for a touchdown. He finished with 72 rushing yards and two TDs on just five carries. All told, the Wildcats ran for 362 yards on just 19 attempts and did not attempt a pass.

Meanwhile, the Wilmington defense wasn’t letting West Hancock breathe. The Wildcats limited the Titans to a grand total of 3 rushing yards on 24 attempts, although quarterback Brayden Carter completed 16 of 28 for 190 yards. Hunter Froman caught eight passes for 137 yards.

“On the first drive, I was just rushing the passer,” Moran said. “After that, [Wilmington head] Coach [Jeff] Reents told me to drop back into coverage. That’s where I was when got the interception. It felt really good to see nothing but grass in front of me.

“They came out swinging and had a good first drive. Once we figured out we could stop the run, we were able to concentrate on the pass. It was a good win today. We wanted to get the playoffs off to a good start.”

Reents praised the work of the offensive line - Jack Cutter, Zach Ohlund, Logan Van Duyne, Will Wilson and Evan Kuypers - along with that of the defense.

The Wildcats will play at 10-0 Seneca in the second round next Saturday.

“It was good to get that first playoff win,” he said. “You’re on a different routine playing on a Saturday, and you wonder how your kids will react. They did a good job. The offensive line has been getting better as the season has gone on, and they were opening some huge holes today. Our defense bent but didn’t break on that opening drive, and Moran’s pick was huge. It really got us going.

“We are playing some of our better football right now, and we’ll need to against Seneca. We had a great game against them a couple of years ago when we saw them in the playoffs [an overtime victory], and I expect the same thing from them this year.”