WCHS Wildcats Take Down CHS Trojans, 24-7

The Wayne County High School Wildcats rolled up 370 yards of offense and 4 touchdowns in route to a 24 – 7 win over the Collinwood Trojans in Region 6-1A action. With the win, the 'Cats secured the 3rd place region finish and will travel to Fayetteville Friday night to participate in the TSSAA 1-A Play-offs. The 'Cats finish the regular season with a 4 – 6 record and 2 – 3 in region action.

Collinwood opened the game with the ball and ran 5 plays before being forced to punt. The 'Cats took the ball at their own 13 and marched 87 yards in 11 plays for the opening score. Case Butler scored on a 4-yard run to make it 6 – 0, in favor of the Wildcats. The conversion attempt failed.

The Trojans got the ball at their 22 and ran 2 plays before fumbling it back to the 'Cats. Knox Bunch came up with the recovery. The 'Cats went 31 yards in 5 plays with Butler scoring again, this time on a 2-yard run. Again, the conversion attempt failed, making the score 12 – 0 with 10:49 left before the half. The 'Cats fumbled on their next series and then threw an interception to go into the half leading 12 – 0.

In the second half, the teams exhanged punts. The 'Cats were forced to punt again on their second series, giving the Trojans the ball at their own 32. Collinwood worked their way down the field, running 6 plays. Wildcat Case Butler then came up with a big interception at the Wildcat 17. They marched 83 yards in 6 plays, with Avery Vaughn scoring on 29-yard run. The PAT failed, to make the score 18 – 0 at the 7:18 mark of the fourth. The Trojans answered with a 4-play, 65-yard drive to score their only touchdown of the night, scoring from 8 yards out, as 5:38 was left on the clock. The 'Cats recovered the on-side kick attempt at the 47. Case Butler scored his 3rd TD of the night. This time it was on a 13-yard run, to seal the 24 – 7 win.

Butler rushed 19 times for 85 yards and 3 touchdowns. He was 4 of 6 passing for 40 yards and 1 interception. Avery Vaughn also rushed 19 times and had 183 yards and a touchdown. Daylan VanFleet had 2 carries on reverses for 57 yards and caught 2 passes for 25 yards. Mason Moore had a carry for 5 yards and a reception for 3 yards. Weston Todd had a pass reception for 12 yards.

On defense, the 'Cats held Collinwood to 47 yards on the ground on 22 rushing attempts. The Trojans were 9 of 22 passing for 119 yards. Brayson Harris, Wyatt Morris, and Jacan Floyd led the defense. Harris had 6 tackles and 2 assists, while Morris had 4 tackles, 2 tackles for losses, a sack, and an assist. Floyd had 4 tackles and 4 assists. Landen Smotherman had 3 tackles, 3 assists, and a tackle for a loss, and Roby Brown had 5 tackles and 2 assists. Jaxon Bryant had 3 tackles and an assist. Cayden Castleman had a tackle, a tackle for a loss, and an assist, and Mason Moore, Daylan VanFleet, and Case Butler each had 2 tackles and an assist. Butler also had the interception. Weston Todd had a tackle. Knox Bunch had an assist and a fumble recovery. Hayden Horner had 3 assists, and Peyton Griggs had 2.

The 'Cats are on the road this week to take on Fayetteville in the play-offs. Game time is 7:00 p.m. Friday night. “GOOD LUCK WILDCATS!”---Submitted by Susan Gallian