THE FLYOVER part one | West Rusk holds off New Diana; Troup smashes Winona; White Oak can’t overcome Jefferson / Presented by KILGORE MERCANTILE & MUSIC
It took almost every bit of regulation, and for a while, it looked like West Rusk and New Diana would be finishing in overtime here at Bruce Bradshaw Stadium on Friday night.
And then suddenly, the drama was over.
Daylan Williams and his West Rusk teammates ended it.
Williams (sort of) had the last word, scoring a rushing touchdown, his only one of the game, with 12 seconds left. New Diana got the ball back, but ran out of time, and the Raiders claimed a 28-21 win.
West Rusk has won six straight games and the Raiders are 6-1 on the season overall, and 3-0 in District 11-3A, Division II. They’ll take this next weekend off, and then play at Troup on Friday, Oct. 24. If Troup (6-0, 3-0) gets out of New Diana next weekend with a win, then the Troup-WR game will be for sole possession of first place.
Against New Diana, Williams finished with 50 yards and arguably the game’s biggest score.
Judson Dotson went 9-of-15 for 144 yards and a score (to Kemontrea McGregor) and ran for 101 yards and two more touchdowns in the win for West Rusk.
McGregor had that touchdown and 47 yards receiving, and on defense, had an interception. Kameron Brown had an interception, seven tackles, and on offense, had two catches for 80 yards. Chris Sanchez had eight tackles. Rhett Jackson, Hunter McCandless and Drake Mills each had a sack.
Troup 60, Winona 0: Speaking of the Troup Tigers, they’re pretty good.
Yeah, that’s not really a news flash.
Troup moved up a spot from seventh to sixth in this week’s Class 3A, Division II state poll, a part of the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football state polls. And they are ROLLING.
Ask Winona.
Winona was the visitor Friday night and were ran right out of the stadium, a 60-0 loss that might have been just as bad, if not worse, than it sounded.
Josh Childress, who threw four touchdowns against rival Arp a couple of weeks ago, had another four-TD game, going 17-of-21 for 298 yards and those scores, and also added 101 yards (and only carried the ball four times) in the win.
On the other end of those passes: James Pierce had a touchdown and 146 yards on five throws and also ran for a score. Both Hollies – Cameron and Dee – had a touchdown catch, as did Riley Blackmon.
And Brett Wells? He just keeps getting better. This time, 156 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, and also had a couple of catches for 20 yards.
Defensively, Noble Kendrick had two tackles, one for loss, and Billy Borja had 10. Wells had eight tackles, three for loss, and Caden Starkey had a sack, five tackles and a tackle for loss.
Kicker Anthony Zuniga hit all eight of the extra points he was asked to kick.
The Tigers, as mentioned earlier, visit New Diana next Friday night.
Jefferson 45, White Oak 7 (at Jefferson): There was no snow in Jefferson Thursday night, but there was a snowball.
Jefferson got on a roll early in its District 8-3A, Division I home game against White Oak, and never really looked back. The Bulldogs were desperate, 0-2 in district play and needed the win badly.
And now White Oak (4-2) will be in that same role this week. The Roughnecks are now 0-2 in district, with Sabine coming to town Friday.
The entire district is trying to keep pace with Gladewater and Atlanta, both of whom are 3-0 in that district.
Jefferson scored 26 first-half points and led the ‘Necks 26-0 at the half. White Oak did score in the third quarter, a 15-yard run by quarterback Jaxsen Ludlow, but that was the Roughnecks’ only score of the game.
White Oak would love to avoid their fate last year: they started the season 4-0, but finished 5-5 and missed the UIL 3A-DII postseason.
