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ELLAVILLE – The Schley County Wildcats (SCHS) made a statement Friday night in their season opener, as they thrashed Tattnall Square (TS) by the score of 61-20 at Wildcat Stadium.
The statement they made is that they are poised and ready to get back to the state championship game and to win it this time. Friday’s drubbing of Tattnall Square was the first step they took towards that goal.

The Wildcats opened in the scoring with 9:06 to go in the second quarter when quarterback Jay Kanazawa threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Carson Westbrook. The extra point by Miguel Yanez was good and SCHS had a 7-0 lead.

A little less than three minutes later, SCHS added to its lead when running back Zayden Walker broke through the TS defensive line and scampered 32 yards for a touchdown. This time, the Wildcats went for two but failed. Nevertheless, they had a 13-0 lead with 6:40 to go before halftime.

Then with 1:03 to go before the half, the Wildcats were able to add another touchdown on the board, as Kanazawa scored from 15 yards out on a quarterback keeper. The extra point by Yanez was good and SCHS had a 20-0 lead at the half.

With 9:17 left in the third quarter, Kanazawa threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Kendall Sims. The extra point by Yanez was good and the Wildcats had a commanding 27-0 lead.

The Trojans finally got on the board with 7:14 to go before halftime when quarterback Caden Faulk threw a 36-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was good and the SCHS lead was cut to 27-7.

Just a few minutes later, the Wildcats struck again when running back Jeremiah Rogers ran the ball 61-yards for a touchdown. Yanez’s extra point was no good, but the Wildcats had a 33-7 lead with 3:02 to go in the third quarter.

Not long thereafter, the Trojans were able to score their second touchdown and extra point of the game to make it 33-14 in favor of Schley County, but 22 seconds after the TS score, Kanazawa threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to JaLewis Solomon. The extra point by Yanez was good and the Wildcats led 40-14.

Then with 29 seconds left in the third quarter, the Wildcats were able to force a fumble. Zayden Walker recovered the fumble and ran the ball back 27 yards the other way for an SCHS touchdown. The extra point by Yanez was good and the Wildcats had a 47-14 lead.

Early in the fourth quarter, Walker recovered another fumble and returned this one 40 yards for a touchdown. The extra point by Yanez was good and SCHS led 54-14 with 11:48 to go in the game.

The Trojans were able to score another touchdown with 5:39 to go when quarterback Braxton Collins scored on a quarterback keeper from two yards out, but the Wildcats would make the last statement of the game when Jeremiah Rogers ran the ball 77 yards for his second touchdown of the night. By the time the clock read all zeros, the Wildcats had secured their 61-20 season-opening victory.

Kanazawa completed 19-30 passes for 288 yards and three touchdowns and JaLewis Solomon caught six passes for 136 yards. Jeremiah Rogers rushed for 147 yards on just four carries with two touchdowns and Zayden Walker scored three touchdowns on the night.

The Wildcats (1-0) will be off this coming Friday, but will try to improve to 2-0 on the season when they host Early County on Friday, September 1. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.