By Cade Cromer

Cordele Dispatch contributor

It was a rough night in Rochelle for the Wilcox County Patriots as they squared off against region opponent Clinch County on Friday night.

The Patriots started the game with the ball but fumbled on their first play, and a Clinch defender was on hand for the recovery. Clinch quickly cashed in on the turnover when they scored on the very next play to take a 6-0 lead.

The Patriots were forced to punt on their next possession, and Clinch punched in another touchdown and two-point conversion to take a 14-0 lead just over four minutes into the first quarter.

The subsequent drive by the Patriots looked to be promising as they drove all the way down to the five-yard line, but a fourth and goal fake field goal pass attempt was incomplete and Clinch took over on the turnover on downs.

The very next play ended in a 95 yard touchdown run by a Clinch County running back that put the visitors up by a score of 20-0.

Things continued to go right for Clinch County in the second quarter as they added three more touchdowns before halftime, and went in at the break up by a score of 41-0.

Clinch returned the opening kickoff of the second half all the way for a touchdown to complete their scoring on the night.

Wilcox was able to get some of their backups into the game for most of the second half to get some valuable game experience.

The Patriots continued to fight offensively and defensively despite the numbers on the scoreboard. They were able to find a late score to get on the board after putting together a solid drive that was capped off with a five-yard touchdown run by freshman Desmond Tisdol. The touchdown run by the freshman made the score 48-6 in favor of Clinch, which is where it would stand at the end of the game.

Freshman EJ Howard also had a productive night for the Patriots with a couple of catches on offense and an interception on the defensive side of the ball. The Patriots will be back home next Friday night for their homecoming game against region opponent Telfair County.