By Lonnie Turner
The Dillon Wildcats will take to the road this week after an idle spot in their 2015 football season schedule, to take on the Darlington High School Falcons in a non conference contest this coming Friday night. The two schools had a pretty decent rivalry going on when this writer was in high school, but with all the re-alignments over the years, the schools haven’t had the games scheduled like days of old.
The Wildcats will be without the services of running back Johnny Allen, who fractured his neck and other bones in his back in an all-terrain vehicle accident on Sunday. “He’ll be out for the season,” said Head Coach Jackie Hayes. “We’ll have to just wait and see when the spring comes around next year. It’s quite a loss for us, both on and off the field. You hate to lose a player like him, he’s a great kid and will really be missed.”
Knowing how devoted Allen is towards football, don’t be too surprised with his healing in weeks to come. He is a fighter and we, who have watched him play, know the determination he has.
“He and Jamison were our one-two punch last year and again this season and he’ll certainly be missed, but he is fortunate that he is not paralyzed.”
The Wildcats will count on running back Jamison Chapman and quarterback Avery McCall in Allen’s absence. For the first three games, Chapman has rushed for 245 yards and McCall has added 119 with 9 touchdowns between them. McCall has thrown for 475 yards, but for only one touchdown. He has been very effective with the short pass, which has set up some of the 18 TDs. He keeps opponents off guard with his ability to throw the ball on the run. He has hit Chapman six times out of the backfield for 105 yards and has thrown only one interception in 34 attempts.
The Falcons rely on quarterback Frankie Johnson, who has thrown for 505 yards this season and rushed for 408 more. His favorite receiver is Elmo Johnson, another senior, who has caught eleven passes for 244 yards to lead the team. In last week’s 43-31 come from behind win over the Lamar Silver Foxes, they out-scored the Foxes 36-16, with the quarterback running two touchdowns and throwing for a third. Running back Thomas Wheeler also scored three touchdowns, all on the ground and added a two-point conversion run.
Defensively, Jermaine McDaniel leads the Wildcats with 21 total take downs and 3.5 quarterback sacks , while Falcon linebacker Bryson Allen has 47 total tackles to lead Darlington.
Game time will be at 7:30 and the team will be leaving the high school at 4:45 sharp if any of the Dillon fans wish to follow the buses. Hopefully, the Dillon side will be full in support for the Cats.
Dillon leads the series, 5-1 from 1996-97, 2000-01 and last year. The Wildcats beat Darlington in 1969 before consolidation while they were known as the St. John Blue Devils.
The Falcons are coached by new head coach John Jones, who Coach Hayes said has assisted at Wilson. In his first year of leadership, his team sports a 3-1 record winning his third in a row after falling to Carolina Forest, in week one, 31-6.
The Falcons have successive wins over Wilson (12-10), Cheraw (47-20) and Lamar (43-31).
