Four fumbles and the lack of a ground attack attributed to the Wayne County High School Wildcats being unable to move the ball consistently against the Summertown Eagles last Friday night. The Wildcats came up with three turnovers to keep the game manageable and trailed 19 – 0 at the half. The Eagles rushed for 211 yards on 40 carries to down the ‘Cats, 26 – 6.
The first series, the Eagles traveled 47 yards on ten plays before Wildcat defensive back Spencer Turnbow came up with an interception and 30 yard return to stop the drive. The ‘Cats took possession on their own 37, but fumbled it back to the Eagles on the first play. Summertown covered the distance in three plays, scoring their first touchdown on a 15 yard run with 4:46 left in the first quarter. They kicked the PAT to make it 7 – 0. The Wildcats took the ball at the 20 on a touchback following the touchdown. They managed two yards on three plays and were forced to punt. Summertown got the ball at the Wildcat 44 and moved it down to the Summertown 29 before fumbling it back to the ‘Cats. Hunter Staggs came up with the recovery. The ‘Cats again couldn’t move the ball, turning it over to Summertown on downs on the Eagle 26. Seven plays later, they scored on a one yard run. The PAT was no good to make it 13 – 0, with 5:07 left in the first half. The Wildcats got the ball back at their own 35, but again were forced to punt it back after three plays. Summertown returned the kick to the Wildcat 18 and scored on their first play to make the score 19 – 0.
In the second half, the teams exchanged punts on their first two series. With 7:24 left in the third quarter, the Wildcats put their only score on the board as quarterback Cade Crews connected with Clay Baugus on a 20 yard touchdown pass. The conversion attempt failed, making the score 19 – 6. On the next series, the Wildcats came up with an interception by Jonmikel Lynn, giving them the ball at their own 49. Unable to move it, they punted it back to the Eagles. The defense held, and the ‘Cats got the ball back on a punt at their own 44. With the benefit of back to back 15 yard penalities, they moved the ball down to the Eagle 21, but turned it back over on downs. This time, the Eagles put together an 11 play, 79 yard drive, scoring on a 6 yard run. The PAT was good, making the score 26 – 6. The Wildcats fumbled on their own 38 on the second play. Summertown ran out the clock to take the win, 26 – 6.
Cade Crews was 9 of 18 passing on the night for 125 yards and 1 touchdown. He had 4 carries for minus 17 yards. Ninety-one of the passing yards and the touchdown were completed to Clay Baugus on 9 catches. Baugus also had a couple of rushes for no yardage. Hunter Staggs had one catch for 16 yards and ran the ball one time for no yards. Julian Birchett had 5 carries for 16 yards and one catch for 10 yards. Eli McClain had one catch for 8 yards. Austin Whitson had one carry for 12 yards, while Logan Brewer had one carry for 13 yards. Timmy Robbins had 3 carries for 4 yards. The Wildcats cleaned up their penalty situation from the previous game and had only two penalties for 30 yards on the night.
The Wildcat defense gave up 283 yards of offense to the Eagles, but came away with three turnovers. Linebacker Blaine Love led the team with 13 tackles. Hunter Staggs had 12 hits and recovered a fumble. Clay Baugus had 10 tackles. Cameron Manley and Colton Beason each had 5 tackles, while Brock Brown, Damian Dickey, Nolan Moore, Brian Austin Carlton, and Timmy Robbins each had 3 tackles. Moore also forced a fumble. Austin Whitson, Luke Sesler, Julian Birchett, Aaron Martin, Dawson Willis, and Ethan Tilley all had 2 tackles. Spencer Turnbow, Chase Cummings, Jonmikel Lynn, David Walker, and Braxton Littleton each had one tackle. Turnbow and Lynn each had an interception, while Lynn also broke up a pass.
The Wildcats are now 0 – 2 and return home this week to take on Middleton. Game time is 7:00 p.m. Come out and cheer the ‘Cats on to their first win. “GOOD LUCK WILDCATS!”—Submitted
