Here is a photo gallery from the Dillon v. Latta game.
PHOTOS BY JOHNNIE DANIELS/THE DILLON HERALD
Click once on a photo to bring it into a single screen, and then again to enlarge.
By Lonnie Turner
The Dillon Wildcats learned a lesson Thursday night in a game that was moved to Thursday because of Hurricane Hermine.
The Latta Vikings entered the game with something to prove. They thought they could stay in the game with quarterback Dylan Brewer’s arm and for the first two quarters, they did just that.
Brewer’s quick releases caught the Wildcats off guard as his receivers ran near perfect routes.
It took little time for the young signal caller to find his receivers and by the end of the first quarter, the score was 0-0.
He completed seven of eight passes for 74 yards, but threw an interception that was picked off by Khy’Dief Manning.
Wide receiver Deonta Stanley caught 2 passes for 43 yards to lead the first quarter. Damien Braddy caught one in the Dillon end zone, but he lost the handle and the Wildcats recovered to halt that early drive.
Both teams scored in the second quarter. The Wildcats took the lead on a 2-yard run by Johnny Allen to end the only offensive drive for the Cats in the second quarter. The Cats drove 95 yards in 14 plays to score on a running play by Allen.
Brewer drove 86 yards in the ensuing Latta drive throwing first down passes to a trio of receivers. Stanley had four catches for 48 yards and Davonta Porter was on the receiving end of 2 throws for 51 yards and Kendall Moultrie caught thee scoring toss of 24 yards. With the PAT kicked by Aide Autry, the score was tied with thirty seconds remaining in the half.
On the ensuing kick off, Jalen Williams fielded the ball at the Dillon 16 and broke a few tackles before breaking into the clear, going 84 yards in just 10 seconds to lead 13-7. Drew Covington’s second kick of the evening gave the Wildcats a hard fought 14-7 lead.
The Dillon defense came to life in the second half, though they still had a problem stopping Brewer’s quickness. He completed seven more passes in the second half for 72 more yards.
Johnny Allen scored his second touchdown to end a 62 yard drive, crossing the goal line at the 8:11 mark of the third quarter. It was the initial drive for the offense in the second half and gave the Wildcats a 21-7 lead.
On the first play following the ensuing kick off, tackle Jatoreus Manning picked a fumble out of the air and the 225 pounder lumbered into the endzone from 24 yards out, but the kick for the PAT sailed off to the left of the up-rights.
Four minutes later, the Dillon defense struck again 71-yard pass interception return by Jermaine McDaniel and the kick gave the Cats a commanding 42-7 lead.
The Vikings mounted a scoring drive near the end of the game with Justin Hall going into the end zone following a 67 yard drive that took seven minutes off the clock.
Brewer finished the game with 283 yards, completing 21 passes out of 28 attempts. He threw two picks!
For the Wildcats, Johnny Allen finished with 115 yards and Breyden completed eight of 21 for 114 yards.
GAME PREVIEW
By Lonnie Turner
Since the Lake View Wild Gators are no longer on the Wildcat football schedule, Latta becomes the only county rival for Dillon and since keeping records back in 1969, the Wildcats and Vikings have played each other 29 times and the Vikings have won one, stopping the Cats 14-12 in that first season. The rivalry will renew Friday night when the Vikings come into Dillon on the heels of a 57-6 pasting of Creek Bridge.
After losing a close one to Lake View in the season’s opener, the Vikings look to Dylan Brewer’s arm and the running of Ontario McLellan to make some noise over the Dillon defense. In the two games so far, Brewer has completed 17 of 21 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns, while McLellan has reeled off 208 yards on 24 carries and has scored five TDs.
The Wildcats lost a tough 7-3 contest to the nation’s number 10 team, but came back last week with 62-14 thumping of the Mullins Auctioneers. Leading the way, with just one game under his belt, York transfer Breyden Hawkins has completed 17 of 22 pass attempts for 270 yards and five TD throws. Like Latta a week ago, the Wildcats built a big 49-14 lead through the fist half. The Vikings led Creek Bridge, 44-0, after the first 24 minutes.
Kendall Moultrie leads the Vikings with 7 catches for 77 yards, while Kanore McKinnon has pulled in 10 passes for 168 yards and 3 touchdowns, nine of those catches coming last week against the Auctioneers.
Defensively, Latta is paced by Davonta Porter with 13 take downs last week against Creek Bridge and the Wildcats are led by defensive end, Jermaine McDaniel, a verbal commitment to the Appalation State Mountaineers with 22 total tackles. Both teams come into the battle with 1-1 records.
The Wildcats are led in the kicking game with senior punter and kick off specialist Drew Covington, who has connected on 8 of 9 PAT attempts and has kicked a 30-yard field goal so far this season.
Should be a good crowd in the stands and standing around the fence for this one, so get to the park early to get decent parking places.
