By Lonnie Turner
“If you want to be a champion, you ‘ve got to beat a champion,” so said Chapman head football coach after his Panthers spoiled the Dillon Wildcats’ dream of five championships in a row, 29-27, at Williams-Brice Stadium Saturday evening.
His backfield tandem of running back D.J. Twitty and quarterback Colton Bailey controlled the football for most of the game, running 60 offensive plays on the ground to 25 for the Wildcats. Bailey completed 12 of 20 passes for 179 yards and Bailey had 202 yards on 28 carries.
The Wildcats for the better part of the season depended on their ability to put points on the scoreboard in the second half, but on this evening, Chapman out-scored the Cats by a baseball score of 9-5, with a 43-yard field goal and tackling Jalen Williams in the backfield for a safety.
The Wildcats only score in the half came at 2:25 in the third on a 19-yard pass from Brayden Hawkins to Murishi Irankunda to give the Cats a 27-24 lead. The safety cut the lead to 27-26 and Carlos Corrales won the game with his 43-yard field goal that just cleared the crossbar, his second of the game. In the third quarter his 31 yarder gave the Panthers a 24-21 lead five minutes from the end of the third quarter.
Dillon’s premier running back, senior Johnny Allen, nearly topped the 200 yard mark, carrying 19 times for 188 yards, giving him 1,751 for the season and 26 touchdowns and senior wide receiver Murishi Irankunday caught 4 passes for 79 yards and a touchdown.
The four straight Championships will be long remembered by we, who for years under Paul Chapman, looked forward for our first back the 60s through the 80s. Coach Jackie Hayes, who was taught by the great disciplinarian, after 22 seasons has accumulated 291 wins while losing only 52 currently has the best winning percentage of any coach in the state, 84.8%.
In Thursday’s Herald, we will have more on the run by the Wildcats over the past three years.
But, right now, a big tip of the cap to Coach Hayes, his players and coaches for a great ride…and it ain’t over yet! We’ll be back!
