Cleveland Wolves take down Vicksburg Gators, 34-24

Story and photo by Keith Phillips for the Vicksburg Daily News

A big district game between the Vicksburg High School Gators and and the Cleveland Central High School Wolves last night resulted in another Vicksburg High loss.

Big plays and hard hits ruled the game from the beginning to the very last drive. The Gators put in hard work on Thursday night but still fell short of a win.

By the middle of the second quarter, Vicksburg was down 14-10 with 6:19 left in the first half. The Gators were stopped and forced to punt on their next drive, which was blocked by Cleveland and recovered on Vicksburg’s 30- yard line. The Wolves came out ready to play on offense with a quick option to the right for a gain of 20 yards to the Gators 10-yard line.

A quick handoff to the right would give Cleveland another touchdown with 3:57 to go in the half.

The gators showed that they were ready for a fight with three back-to-back first downs. Cedric Phillips ran the next play for a tough eight-yard gain followed by a quarterback keep, which put the Gators in the end zone only trailing by four points, 21-17 at the end of the first half.

Cedric Phillips evades a defender. (Photo by Larry Walker).

The Wolves came out hot in the second quarter with a big 30-yard gain followed by a 12-yard touchdown pass ending the first half with a score of 21-17.

As the clock ran down in the third quarter, the Gators trailed 28-17 forcing Vicksburg to step up. On the following drive the Gators were unable to stop the Wolves and gave up another touchdown putting the game at 34-17.

The Gators were able to squeeze in one more touchdown, which ended the game with a score of 34-24 and a loss.

Next week the Gators (1-6) host Ridgeland High School Titans (5-1) as the Gators continue to search for their first district win.