The Wildcats’ football team is playoff bound after defeating Hallsville, 35-21 at old Prim Stadium on senior night Friday night.
Several bad things happened when Hallsville had to punt that led tremendously to their demise. There were two bad snaps in the first half and a blocked punt for a touchdown in the second half. Wildcats defensive end D’Idrec Dugan picked up a loose ball on one snap and rumbled deep into Bobcats territory and back Colton Allen scored on a short run to give the Wildcats a 14-0 lead at the 10:07 mark of the second quarter. Later the Hallsville punter couldn’t handle a snap and the Wildcats recovered on the Bobcat one yard line. Several plays later, quarterback Ryan Humphries found receiver Austin Dodd in the end zone from four yards out to up the Wildcats lead to 28-0 with just over 2 minutes left before halftime. Late in the third quarter, when Hallsville was attempting to make a comeback, Dugan blocked a Bobcat punt in the end zone that Terrell Turman recovered for a touchdown. That gave the Wildcats a 35-7 lead with 1:13 left in third quarter. Hallsville scored two fourth quarter touchdowns but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Wildcats prevailed, 35-21.
The Wildcats opened the scoring in the game on their first possession covering 72 yards. Humphries got the score on a 2 yard run. In between a couple of Hallsville punting mishaps, the Wildcats also got a 45 yard touchdown pass from Humphries to receiver Landry Tyson. The Wildcats defense totally bottled up the Bobcats in the first half. Hallsville had negative offensive yards after the first two quarters.
With the victory, the Wildcats will now face Mesquite Poteet in a bi-district game next Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Lindale. The Wildcats are the district’s number two small school in the playoffs. The Wildcats improved to 4-6 overall and 3-3 in district play.
The Wildcats honored 17 of their seniors and ones in the band, cheerleading, drill team and student government before the game Friday night. The game also marked the final game for old Gerald Prim Stadium. Early Saturday, earth moving equipment is expected to begin the process of renovating the stadium, including installation of artificial turf. The project is expected to be finished in time for the start of the 2017 football season.
