War Eagles hold off Panthers, 35-28

Click on the screen above to watch our highlights show from Thursday night

By Paul Keane

The Wayne County News

In 2042, this game will be remembered as a classic that was won by a

last-second touchdown.

Unfortunately, in 2022, this game will be remembered as a sloppy,

penalty-filled and chippy contest that featured all kinds of things and

was decided by a last-second touchdown.

Once the smoke finally cleared after 3 hours and 45 minutes of play, it

was a 3-yard touchdown pass from Carter Hankins to Jalen Jones with

eight seconds left that sealed a 35-28 season-opening win for Wayne

County High School over Quitman Thursday night.

The game was sloppy on both sides, with a total of 37 penalties being

accepted, some fans being ejected and even a fight breaking out between

a fan and a coach from Heidelberg High School. It was also a low scoring

affair until the final eight minutes of play, when the two teams

combined to score 42 points.

After a scoreless first quarter, Aikerien Hopkins got things started for

the War Eagles, scoring on a 4-yard run. The Kyle Clark kick made it 7-0

with 9:12 left in the half.

The Panthers answered at the 2:04 mark, returning an interception 25

yards for a score to knot things up at 7-all at the intermission.

In the third quarter, on a fake punt attempt, punter Brayden Mills hit a

wide open Kelvin Walley with a pass, turning that into a 41-yard scoring

strike. The Clark extra point made it 14-7 with 8:03 left in the period.

Then came the fourth quarter.

Quitman tied the score at 14-14 with a 10-yard touchdown run on the

first play of the fourth quarter. WCHS answered with a 64-yard pass from

Carter Hankins to Isaiah Boyd, with the Clark kick opening up a 21-14

lead with 9:58 left in the contest.

Quitman quickly answered that score with a 13-yard touchdown run to tie

the score at 21-21 with 6:09 left.

Not be outdone, Hankins hit Jones with a 39-yard touchdown pass, and the

Clark kick gave the home team a 28-21 lead with 3:56 remaining.

Again Quitman answered, using multiple defensive penalties to move

downfield quickly, then capping things off with a 35-yard run. That made

things 28-28 with 2:29 remaining.

With no timeouts, Hankins led this team downfield quickly, capping off

the drive with the game-winning 3-yard pass to Jones.

For photos from Thursday night's game, be sure and visit the Photo

Gallery on Friday, as photos will not be posted until then.

For a complete game story and statistics --- along with a preview of

next week's game against Oak Grove --- be sure and pick up a copy of the

Sept. 1 edition of The Wayne County News.