Pilots give undefeated Trigg Co. Wildcats a scare

Mark Collier

The Trigg County Wildcats rolled into Sanger Field Sept. 23 looking to keep their undefeated season alive, but the Fulton County Pilots gave them a scare in a game that turned into an offensive shoot-out in the first half.

The Pilots would surprise the Wildcats with an onside kick to start the game, recovered by the Pilots. The Pilots would threaten to score on their first possession, but ultimately turned it over on downs.

The Wildcats would successfully find the endzone on their first drive to go up 7-0 with 10:21 remaining in the first quarter.

Just 30 seconds later, the Wildcats would intercept a Max Gibbs’ throw, returning it for a touchdown to increase their lead to 14-0.

The Pilots would be able to regain their composure and march down the field on their ensuing possession, capped off by a two-yard run by JShon Jones to get the Pilots on the board. The two point conversion would be unsuccessful to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 14-6.

The Wildcats would respond with a 65-yard pass to increase their lead to 21-6, but the Pilots would once again respond as Gibbs found Caden Kimble for a 15-yard touchdown pass to make the score 21-12.

On the kickoff, the Wildcats would return the kick-off 70 yards to score a touchdown with 2:07 remaining in the first quarter.

The Wildcats would fumble on their next possession, leading to a Pilots’ touchdown by Kalon McCauley on a five-yard run to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 27-20.

The Wildcats would find the endzone one more time as time expired in the first quarter to take a 34-20 lead.

However, the Pilots would make a push to tie the game up at 34 with Gibbs connecting with Jones on a 23-yard pass for a touchdown, followed by another onside kick recovery and then Gibbs connected with McCauley on a 19-yard pass for another touchdown. The two-point conversion was successful on a pass from Gibbs to Jones, and the game was tied at 34 with 8:07 remaining.

Not to be denied, the Wildcats would show why they are so far undefeated on the season, scoring three touchdowns and tightening up their defense in the final eight minutes of the half to take a 55-34 into the locker room at halftime.

Both teams would fail to find the endzone in the second half, as the Wildcats managed to escape with a 55-34 win that was closer than the final score would indicate.

For the game, the Pilots had 66 rushing yards to the Wildcats’ 174, and 197 passing yards to their opponent’s 256.

Gibbs completed 17 of his 42 passing attempts, for 197 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, and he also had 30 yards rushing on eight carries.

Jones had 22 yards on four carries, McCauley 10 yards on five carries including one touchdown, Luke Jackson three yards on one carry and Isbell one yard on one carry.

Jones led the Pilots with 99 yards receiving on eighth catches, Kimble had 39 yards on three catches, McCauley 35 yards on two catches, and Goodman 29 yards on three catches. Jones, Kimble and McCauley each had one touchdown reception.

Defensively, Jackson led the Pilots with six tackles, followed by Gibbs with five, Goodman with four, David Allison and Jones with three, Carson Oldaker, McCauley, Kimble, Logan Griffiths and RuMarriez Westbrook with two each, and Jason Mathews, Marcus Bonds and Jovan Westmoreland with one each.

Three fumbles were forced by the Pilots, one each by Jones, Mathews and Westbrook, with the latter two each recovering the fumble.

The Pilots dropped to 2-4 on the season, and will host their final home regular season game Friday night at 7 p.m. against Russellville for Senior Night.