The Wayne County High School Wildcats got off to a pretty good start last Friday night as they drove down to the Eagleville Eagle 22 on their first possession, but then gave the ball over on downs. The Eagles put together a 78 yard, 11 play drive to score with 4:11 left in the first quarter. They missed the PAT and led 6 – 0. The Wildcats answered with a twelve play drive of their own, going 70 yards in the next seven minutes, scoring on a 12 yard Julian Birchette run. Justin Bowlus added the point after to make the score 7 – 6, in favor of the Wildcats. The Wildcat defense held on the next series, forcing a punt that was downed at the Wildcat 2. On an errant snap from the nine yard line, Eagleville covered the ball in the end zone for their second touchdown of the night. The point after was good to make the score 13 – 7 at the half.
In the second half, Eagleville came out and ran 6 plays before fumbling the ball over to the Wildcats. Dawson Willis came up with the loose ball at the Wildcat 38. Austin Whitson rambled 62 yards on the first play for a touchdown. Bowlus again connected on the PAT to put the Wildcats on top 14 – 13. Eagleville answered with a 7 play, 83 yard drive for a score. The PAT was no good, making the score 19 – 14 with 3:47 left in the third period. The ‘Cats moved the ball on the next series, but couldn’t come up with a score and turned it back over to the Eagles on downs at the Eagleville 36. Again, the Eagle scoring drive took 7 plays that ended in a 23 yard run for the touchdown. The point after was good, making the score 26 – 14, with seven minutes left in the contest. They would score again as the Wildcats turned the ball over on a fumble at their own 37. Final score 32 – 14, Eagles.
The Wildcats managed 200 yards rushing on 35 carries, led by Austin Whitson with 93 yards on 14 attempts, 62 of which came on the 62 yard touchdown run. He was 4 of 8 passing for 82 yards. Julian Birchette rushed for 80 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown. Timmy Robbins had 27 yards on 5 attempts, and Brock Brown carried the ball 3 times for no gain. Tyler Moser had 2 pass receptions for 48 yards, while Ryder Butler had one catch for 26 yards. Luke Sesler had one reception for 8 yards. Butler also had 3 kick-off returns for 85 yards on the night.
The Wildcat defense allowed 301 yards of offense, 269 came on the ground. Senior Dawson Willis led the Wildcats on defense with 11 tackles and the fumble recovery. Freshman Drew Bevis had 7 tackles, and Jesse Dixon, Luke Sesler, Ryder Butler, Ty Cofer, and Colton Beason each had 5 tackles. Julian Birchette had 4 hits, and Chance Kelley, Baker Bryant, Eli McClain, and Timmy Robbins each had 3. Brian Austin Carlton and Austin Whitson had 2 tackles each, and Aaron Martin and Brock Brown each had a tackle.
The Wildcats again play at home this week, making up the lightning-postponed game with Huntland. They now stand at 1 – 5 on the year. Come out and support the Wildcats in this big region match-up. Game time is 7:00 p.m. “GO WILDCATS!”—Submitted
