By Amy Thrash, Sports Reporter • amy@southerntorch.com (Photo by Amy Thrash)
FORT PAYNE, Ala. — The Fort Payne Wildcats defeated the Lee Huntsville Generals in region play 45-18 on Friday night.
In the first quarter, Fort Payne had no problem moving the ball. The Wildcats were inside the Lee 5-yard line, but a penalty backed them up. With 9:26 remaining in the first, Alex McPherson hit a 29-yard field goal to put the Wildcats up 3-0. With 41.3 seconds left in the first, Fort Payne’s Donald Winchester scored on a 1-yard run making the score 10-0.
Tyler Newton intercepted a pass and ran down the field with a 62-yard touchdown with 11:19 remaining in the second to make the score 17-0. The Wildcats’ defense forced a quick three-and-out. With 6:50 remaining in the first half, Carter Pinholster made a 31-yard touchdown run giving the Wildcats a 21-0 lead. Fort Payne’s defense forced another three-and-out. With 10.3 seconds left in the second, Matthew Shaddix made a touchdown giving the Wildcats the 31-0 lead at half time.
To start the third, the Generals scored their first touchdown of the night with an 80-yard run making the score 31-6 with 11:42 remaining in the third. Fort Payne’s defense forced a fumble which was picked up by Junior Marquez. With 2:11 left in the third, Pinholster scored on a 7-yard touchdown run to make the score 38-6. The Generals answered back with a 95-yard touchdown with 1:50 left in the third.
In the fourth quarter with 6:06 remaining, Jordan Bain connected with Pinholster for a 22-yard touchdown pass making the score 45-12. In the final seconds of the game, Lee scored their last touchdown to make the final 45-18 score.
“I thought our defense played really well, except for a couple of plays. [We] only really gave up 6 points,” said Head Coach Chris Elmore. ”We also scored on defense one time, so our defense really controlled the game. Our offense did a good job of improving with our rushing attack from the week before. Overall, it was a great team win for us.”
Coach Elmore’s Players of the Week are Tyler Newton for defense and Carter Pinholster for offense. Offense had over 400 total yards including a season high 322 yards rushing.
Fort Payne will host Buckhorn High School on Friday night.
