By Lonnie Turner
The football series between the Dillon Wildcats and the Wilson Tigers began in 1980 when both teams played in the 4A classification. In that classification, the Wildcats held a 12 and 2 record with both losses coming in back to back seasons, 1985 and 1986. When both schools dropped to the 3A Class in 1996, The Wildcats held a 2-0 record before losing in overtime, 24-21, in the 2002 season, which was the first time Coach Jackie Hayes lost to the Florence school. Since that time Hayes and his Wildcats have won eight straight, five in 3A and three in the current 2A Classification.
The Tiger are led on offense by Raymond State with 32 carries for 173 yards and one TD while Kamron Bradford has 169 yards on 27 carries and leads the team with four rushing touchdowns.
Running the team at quarterback is senior Jacob Quillen, who has completed 48 of 72 pass attempts for 475 yards and three touchdowns, with only three interceptions.
Leading receiver is Yavin Smith with 7 catches for 78 yards. For the Wildcats, leading rusher is Jalen Williams with 47 carries for 418 yards and 6 rushing TDs, with Zareon Hayes complementing with 289 yards on 23 carries and he leads the Wildcats with 7 rushing touchdowns. Jay Lester has thrown 43 times this season, completing 25 for 249 yards and has thrown 2 TDs The leading Dillon receiver is Ty Rogers with 8 catches for 88 yards.
For the Tigers on defense, linebacker Jarva McRae leads the tackle sheet with 17 total tackles and Jeremiah Smith has 5 quarterback sacks to lead in that category. Dray Thompson also has 17 put-downs to lead the Wildcats and Shakai Jeanti leads the team with 3.5 QB sacks. Ty’Quan Porter leads the Cats with three pass interceptions, returning 2 for touchdowns.
The Wildcats would like to see a good crowd on hand early since Wilson is just down the road a piece and will be bringing a good crowd to see their 3-1 team do battle with the Cats. Wilson’s only loss was a 37-7 defeat at the hands of the Conway Tigers two weeks ago.