By Lonnie Turner

For most football teams throughout the state, 429 yards in total offense in any one game would be some great numbers on the statistics charts, especially during the state playoffs. In Dillon Friday night, the Wildcats netted that amount in the first half alone on the way to a second round 56-0 win over the Wade Hampton Red Devils. Super Soph Avery McCall threw for 236 yards, plus the running game netted 193 more yards in the half to total 429.

McCall completed 18 of 22 attempts in the first half and finished the night 20 of 27 for 245 yards and four touchdowns. He scored a fifth on a 14-yard run halfway through the second quarter. Eri’Reon Hayes and Daeshawn Davis caught five each, including a touchdown each, and while the aerial attack was producing those numbers, the Touchstone Energy Cooperative Bowl bound Anthony Blue piled up 218 yards and ran for two touchdowns to run his totals to 1,135 rushing and 21 touchdowns.

Defensively, the Wildcats picked off three passes to Wade Hampton quarterback Sheldon Swofford and recovered a fumble while holding the Red Devils to 44 net yards. Twenty-eight different players were involved in tackles during the game with Ja’Monte McGill leading the way with six put-downs. The Nasty Cats have gone 20 quarters without having a point scored against them. This was their seventh shut out of this season.

Blue’s two touchdowns came in the first four minutes on runs of 15 and 64 yards and Tara Grimsley made good both tries for the extra points and ran her season total to 42 for the year with six more kicks in the game.

McCall hit Eri’Reon Hayes with a 15-yarder with only two minutes remaining in the first quarter to register his first touchdown pass of the evening to put the Cats up 28-0, and after the 6-foot, 170-pound sophomore signal caller ran a 14-yard touchdown, he completed touchdown tosses to Daeshawn Davis and Jay Johnson during the rest of the first half. The last touchdown of the game came with 5:18 remaining in the third quarter after McCall scrambled out of the pocket and found Ahmad Morrison, who had got open in the front of the end zone.

Shrine Bowler Damu Ford scored his third touchdown of the season on a 6-yard run early in the first 12 minutes of the game.

The Wildcats will be at home Friday in a rematch with Lake Marion, a 57-0 victim of the Cats in the playoffs last season at Memorial Stadium.

Photos by Johnnie Daniels/THE DILLON HERALD. Click the images below to view at full size!