By Lonnie Turner

The Dillon Wildcats inched closer to the Region 8-2A championship Friday night by dominating the Marion Swamp Foxes 41-7 at Memorial Stadium, with Anthony Blue still running wild as the back-up to Jabo Lee, the WBTW-TV preseason player of the year. Blue carried the football 21 times through three quarters for a season high 222 yards and three touchdowns.

Blue ran the football four times for 57 yards on the first possession to set up the first score with 4:13 seconds gone in the opening quarter. Freshman quarterback Avery McCall connected with wide receiver Breon Page for a 6-yard touchdown and Tara Grimsley hit her first of five extra points to give the Cats a quick 7-0 lead.

In the first quarter, the Wildcat defense held Marion to three three-and-out series, while the offense scored on all three of their possessions. Blue took a handoff and raced 38 yards for his first 6-pointer of the game on the second play after taking over at the Marion 40 as a result of an 11-yard punt by the Marion punter. Quarterback Thomas Grossetti, who holds for the extra point attempts, temporarily mishandled the snap from center and after a slight hesitation placed the ball down and Grimsley’s kick was low and off to the left.

Joe Blue, who plays linebacker and subs at tailback when the Cats get close to the opponent’s goal, scored his 13th touchdown from the 7-yard line out of the Wildcat formation on the last offensive play of the first quarter. The score came at the end of a 78-yard drive that started at the Dillon 22. Anthony Blue accounted for 39 of the yards on four carries and ended the first 12 minutes with 136 yards rushing.

The Swamp Foxes mounted a ten play drive that bogged down at the Dillon 40-yard line to force Trey Herring’s fourth punt of the evening and for the first time in the game, the Wildcats were unable to put points on the board.

Blue’s second score came at the 2:48 mark on the scoreboard clock on a 12-yard run and 24 seconds later, defensive back Malique Gregory picked off a Tillman Sanders pass and returned it 25 yards for the fifth touchdown of the half.

A Wildcat fumble on their second possession of the third quarter at the Dillon 24-yard line led to the only score by the Swamp Foxes, a 9-yard run by halfback Janarick Reed on the fifth play of the short series with 3:43 left in the third quarter.

Blue scored for the third time to end an 8-play drive that covered 45 yards with an 11-yard run.
The Wildcats rushed for 265 yards and Grossetti joined McCall for 71 yards to give Dillon 336 yards in total offense, while the defense held Marion to 10 yards rushing and 54 yards through the air. Damu Ford led the defense with 11 tackles.

The win sets the stage for another meeting, much like last year, with the Loris Lions, a team that shares the league lead with the Wildcats with three wins against no defeats. Overall the Lions have lost two games, while the Wildcats have only the 16-7 loss to 3A power Marlboro County in the fifth week of competition.