With only 11 seconds gone from the third quarter, Thomas scored on his 75-yard return. The kick failed, and Fitzgerald held a 40-6 advantage. Fitzgerald’s final score came on a 13-yard run by Larry King with 2:35 left in the third. Meza added the kick for the final 47-6 lead.

Indians fall to Wilcox

ROCHELLE — The Indians got a sound thumping Friday night from the Wilcox County Patriots, who held the Irwin County offense to under 150 total yards on the night.

Wilcox dominated early and often, scoring the games first touchdown with 55 seconds left in the first quarter on a 5-yard run by Deauntay Legrier. The two-point conversion would fail, leaving the score 6-0 at the end of the first period.

With 45 seconds left in the half, Legrier would extend the Patriot lead by 6 after a 1-yard run. Another two-point conversion would fail, leaving the score 12-0 at the half.

But as Irwin Coach John Gamble would say after the game, the turning point of the game occured on Wilcox’s first drive of the second half on a halfback pass from reserve quarterback Nick Marshall to Willie Gibson. The 60-yard thump, extended the Patriot lead to 18-0 with 11:38 left in the quarter.

With 8:19 left in the 3rd, Wilcox’s David Grace scampered into the end zone from 9 yards out. A Nate Moorhouse kick made the score 25-0.

Irwin would finally find the end zone with 2:59 left in the 3rd quarter when Terry Ashley plowed into the endzone on a 3-yard run. A two-point conversion attempt failed, making the score 25-6.

Wilcox’s third touchdown of the quarter came with 40 seconds left when Rashad Martin scored on a 26-yard pass from Lorenzo Dennard. A Moorhouse kick was good, making the score 32-6.

With 10:20 left in the fourth, Wilcox’s Antonio Marshall caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Dennard for a touchdown. The point after attempt failed.

The Patriots’ final touchdown came with 7:53 left in the final quarter when Breon Porter ran it in from eight yards. The kick would fail, making the final score 44-6.

The Patriots shut down the Irwin passing game, limiting Clint Paulk to 2-of-11 passing for nine yards and an interception.

On the ground, the Indians didn’t fair much better going 132 yards on 42 rushing attempts with five fumbles with three lost.

“They have a lot better team than we do,” Gamble said. “They made some great plays, in particular, three great catches when we had kids all over them.”