Rochelle — In reality, Wilcox High’s Patriots recorded their 38-0 win  over Turner County Friday night. Truth is, what happened seven days earlier figured prominently in that outcome.

“When Turner defeated Charlton (38-6 the week before), that’s the best thing that could have happened as far as them catching our attention,” Wilcox coach Mark Ledford said after the unexpected runaway.

“Our kids knew from that score they would have to bring their best game to date to the table in order to come out on top and they did just that by playing more physical than they had in any game previously.”

So dominating was the Patriot defense that in shutting out the Rebels for a fourth straight season they yielded just 22 net yards on 43 snaps by the visitors who never got past Wilcox’s 23-yard line.

The Patriots also got big nights from their offensive unit  that completed 24 of 32 pass attempts for 340 yards and four touchdowns and their special teams that recorded the school’s first field goal in at least a decade and  also turned in vastly-improved kickoff coverage.

Wilcox wasted little time in getting the only points it would have needed to come out on top, posting its first score with just 4:13 having expired. It came on quarterback Makail Grace’s 5-yard run that capped a 79-yard, eight-play drive highlighted by pass completions of 22 and 13 yards to Telly Whitfield and a 29-yard catch by Jonathan Howard.

With little over a minute left in the initial period, the Patriots made another visit to the Rebels’ end zone. Grace rifled a 23-yard scoring strike to Whitfield to end a 47-yard march starting after Patriot Stealth Turner foiled a fake punt attempt by Turner on fourth-and-2 from the 45.

Grace’s 29-yard interception return to the Rebels 13 set up Wilcox’s third score that came the first snap from there on a toss to Howard. Roberto Carrillo’s third perfect PAT kick made it 21-0 at halftime.

Near the midway mark of the third period, the Patriots climaxed a 59-yard, six-play thrust during which Grace had completions of 9, 7, 4, 4 and 21 yards, respectively, with the last going to Josh Jackson for a TD.

Grace’s second pick of the evening set up the Patriots fifth and final six-pointer registered on his 3-yard pitch to Howard who on the night had seven catches for 129 yards and two scores. The two had clicked on a 23-yard slant pass three plays before the touchdown.

The home team closed out its scoring nine minutes before the final horn when Juan Carrillo booted the school’s rare field goal from 35 yards out. It likely would have been good even from 45 yards away.

“We just had a good night all the way around as I see our team as one that’s improving each week,” Ledford said.

“While I didn’t expect a winning margin this big, I thought going in that with us getting back a couple of injured players  we had a good chance of coming out on top if we played like we were capable which we did.

“Offensively, I liked our ability to spread the ball around and not look to just 1-2 guys to get the job done. Defensively, I liked the way we got after them and hit hard.”

Now 4-2 overall and 2-1 in Region 2-A play, Wilcox will launch a three-game road trip on Friday when it visits Clinch County (3-3, 2-1).



Score by Quarters

Turner County 0-0-0-0 — 0

Wilcox County 14-7-14-3 — 38



Scoring Summary

First Quarter

7:47 W — Makail Grace 5 run (Roberto Carrillo kick)

1:09 W — Telly Whitfield 23 pass from Grace (Carrillo kick)



Second Quarter

8:20 W — Jonathan Howard 13 pass from Grace (Carrillo kick)



Third Quarter

6:59 W — Josh Jackson 21 pass from Grace (Carrillo kick)

3:30 W — Howard 3 pass from Grace (Juan Carrillo kick)

Fourth Quarter

9:00 W — J. Carrillo 35 field goal



Team Statistics

First Downs: T 7, W 18.

Rushes-Yards: T 28-23, W 21-16.

Yards Passing: T 11, W 340.

Passes C-A-I: T 2-15-2, W 24-32-1 340.

Fumbles-Lost:  T 2-0, W 0-0.

Punts-Average: T 3-39, W 2-39.

Penalties-Yards: T 3-25, W 8-65.



Individual Statistics

  Rushing: Turner — Luke Soliday 13-4, Kendall Kicklighter 3-13, Mark Lamb 8-3, Tedrick Moore 3-1, Quan Hillmon 1-2; Wilcox — Grace 8-21, Maurice Edwards 8-12, Quinn Tisdol 1-(-3), Larry Lindsey 1-1, Jamaad Peavy 1-(-5), Hunter Munden 2-(-10).

  Passing: Turner — Soliday 2-15-2 11; Wilcox — Grace 24-32-1 340.

   Receiving: Turner — Xavier Thomas 2-11; Wilcox — Howard 7-129, Jackson 4-54, Edwards 5-50, Tisdol 4-20, Whitfield 3-58, Lindsey 1-29.