By Lonnie Turner
For most of the 2011 season, the most dominant name in local high school football has been running sensation Jabo Lee, a 5’10 junior 175 Dillon Wildcat tailback. The youngster has average over 100 yards per game despite the fact that he is yet to play four full quarters in any ball game. Even though he rushed 16 times against Wilson, he finished the night with a 51-yard touchdown run with 6:50 remaining in the third quarter and tallied 150 yards on the way. Scoring four touchdowns in the game, he ran that team leading total to ten in four games. Lee also returned a punt 53 yards for another apparent touchdown in the first half, but a holding penalty nullified the score.
But, even though Lee has electrified the local fans with dazzling runs this season and in 2010, the Wilson game was mostly about the pesky Dillon defense. Let’s look at the numbers game for the Nasty Cat Defense on Friday; *4* – the number of consecutive shutouts to start the season; *1* (one) – the number of 1st Downs allowed, and that was because of a personal foul penalty; *Minus 24* – the number of rushing yards allowed; *5 *-* *the number of total yards in offense; *3* – the longest rush by a Wilson runner; *7* – the longest pass reception allowed and *W45* – the closest the Tigers could get to the Dillon end zone (and that coming on the penalty that gave them their only first down).
The Wildcats started out Friday’s game with a very unusual three downs and out series as the Wilson Tigers made an attempt to show that they were not going to be Dillon’s next blow-out victim. After the Nasty Cat defense returned the favor, holding the Tigers for minus 10 yards on three plays, quarterback Malique Gregory, coming off the bench, joined Lee in the backfield after a holding penalty on the punt return pushed the Cats back to their own 29-yard line. It took six running plays and a 54-yard pass from Gregory to Breon Page to get the Cats up by six points. Page was tackled at the one and Lee bolted over the goal line on the next play for his first touchdown of the evening. Carlos Trejo’s try for the extra point sailed off to the left.
A bad snap on a 22 yard field goal attempt by Trejo failed after the next series for the Cats stalled at the Wilson 4-yard line.
After Lee ran his second touchdown of the night, an 18 yard run, sophomore Joe Blue, who plays in the backfield in the “Wildcat” formation as well as a defensive linebacker, took a direct snap from center and bulled his way into the end zone from 11 yards out for one of his two touchdowns of the night to give Dillon a 20-0 lead going into the halftime intermission.
After Head Coach Jackie Hayes and his assistant coaches discussed the scoring and defensive success of the first half, the team took to the field in the third quarter and the rout was on. The Cats ran three offensive series and scored on each, the first, a 39-yard run by Lee on the third playoff the opening series. Following the second 3 and out series for Wilson, Lee ran 51 yards for his fourth touchdown the second time that Dillon had the football in the quarter, but it didn’t stop there. With the clock running continuously in the second half, the Wildcats took advantage of a forced fumble by the defense at the Wilson 11 with Gregory running for the final score of the evening. Trejo was perfect in the second half kicking through the uprights after all four touchdowns.
Kwinton Smith caught 5 passes in the game for 60 of the 162 yards passing total to compliment the Dillon running game that accounted for 197 yards and 17 total first downs.
The win over Wilson was the 21st in 24 meetings of the two teams dating back to the coaching days of the late Paul Chapman.
The Wildcats will take this coming week off and will return to action on September 23 to host rival Marlboro County.
