By Lonnie Turner

The Dillon Wildcats continue to put big numbers on the scoreboard at Memorial Stadium. Through three games, the offense, led by Junior quarterback Avery McCall, has piled up 1,240 yards, including 689 through the air and eight touchdowns.

The Latta Vikings fell, 55-14, Friday night, but the 1A squad, led by back-up quarterback Colby Lee, recorded 238 yards in offense. Lee was 15 for 31 for 213 yards through the air, including two touchdowns, but threw three interceptions, two of which were caught by senior Marquan Fullmore to run his season’s total to three. He had what appeared to be a third in the end zone, but was ruled out of bounds.

The Cats were pretty well even, both on the ground and in the passing game against the Vikings. In the first half, McCall completed 12 of 14 passes for 153 yards and three touchdowns and playing the entire second half, Austin Moody was successful on 2 of 10 passes for 33 net yards. Those 15 yards were pretty well matched by the running game that featured junior running back Jamison Chapman with 91 yards and one touchdown. With seven players running the ball, the offense finished with 186 yards. Also carrying the ball were sophomore Johnny Allen with 32 yards on six carries and senior Gerome McLeod, who ran the ball five times for 34 yards.

Leading the Vikings with five catches for 96 yards and one touchdown was Kendall Moultrie, a freshman wide receiver. Lee connected with Jachai Buie, who plays linebacker as well as wide receiver, and Tyreik McAllister, a junior wide receiver, four times each for 47 and 37 yards respectively. McAllister scored the second touchdown for Latta on an 18-yard pass reception in the waning seconds of the first half.

The Wildcat defense held the Vikings to three and out on their opening series and McCall completed four out of his first six throws to lead the Cats on a 75-yard drive that resulted in a 14-yard touchdown to Hayes. Drew Covington was good with the extra point kick, running his consecutive point total to seventeen.

McCall wore No. 2 instead of his regular No. 12 in the game. It was his way of honoring Scotland County quarterback Jaylend Ratliffe, who was injured while riding an ATV prior to the football season. After missing most of the pre-season scrimmages with a fractured skull, Ratliffe was released from the hospital late last week, but was on the sidelines in Laurinburg when the Fighting Scots played host to Marlboro County.

Following another three and out series by Latta, it took the Cats only three plays to go 73 yards with McCall hitting Hayes for the second time for an 8-yard touchdown. Covington’s PAT streak was snapped when his kick sailed off to the right of the goalpost.

After Randal Davis punted for the first time, the Wildcats were held on three plays at the end of the second quarter. On the first play after taking over at the Latta 20, Fullmore made his first interception at the Latta 21 and returned the ball to the two-yard line, where Daeshawn Davis ran the ball in for a 20-0 lead.

That touchdown started a string of six-pointers in the second quarter, four for Dillon and two for Latta. Jamison Chapman gave the Wildcats a 27-0 lead on a 3-yard run, capping a 66-yard drive on eight plays at the 6:49 mark on the clock. Behind the throwing of Lee, the Vikings were in the end zone on three pass completions to Trey Paige and Moultrie on an 80-yard drive that took only 43 seconds off the clock. The scoring toss was a 26-yarder to Moultrie after Lee had just connected with him for 42 yards.

Johnny Allen scored for the Cats from six yards out to give the Cats a 34-7 lead, but back came Lee with five passes for 78 yards, finding Paige alone for an 18-yard scoring toss.

McAllister was on the receiving end of a Lee pass about three minutes later for 18 yards and the second score of the quarter for the Vikings to pull to within 20 points, 34-14.

McCall followed the Latta score when he hit Hayes for his third touchdown catch of the evening, also from 18 yards out on the final offensive drive of the first half with Dillon leading 41-14 at the intermission.

The Wildcats missed a chance to put some more points on the board just minutes into the second half. The Latta defense held on three downs to force a Davis punt, but the ball was fumbled and recovered by Dillon at the Latta 29. The Vikings held again and the Cats coaching staff called on Covington to attempt a 40-yard field goal, but it fell short of the cross bar.

Austin Moody took over the quarterback duties in the second half for the Wildcats. The junior signal caller missed his first two passes to C.J. Sowells, but connected with speedster Johnny Allen for a 33-yard touchdown with 4:37 minutes left in the third quarter.

Gerome McLeod took the ball in from 17 yards out with the clock running continuously to end the scoring. Covington started a new consecutive string of seven successful PATs.

The Wildcats will be off this week and will host the Darlington Falcons on September 19. Lake View has an away game down in the Charleston vicinity at St. Johns, but the Vikings are home to face the Aynor Blue Jackets. The Vikings will certainly like to see a big crowd in the stands from Dillon cheering them on!

Photos by Johnnie Daniels/THE DILLON HERALD. Click the images below to view at full size!