TEVERRIUS JONES ELUDES A LINCOLN TACKLER The Tigers will travel to Dawson County this Friday night. Last Saturday afternoon, the Washington Wilkes Tigers fell to the Lincoln County Red Devils by a score of 32-0. The game was originally scheduled for Friday night, but was cancelled due to lightning and rescheduled for Saturday. This is the third game in a row against Lincolnton that the Tigers have failed to score a touchdown. The loss dropped Washington's record to 0-3 on the year.

The Red Devils started the game with a 23-yard kickoff return out to their own 32-yard line. Lincoln drove the ball over to the W-W 46-yard line with several short runs before the Tiger defense forced the Devils to punt.

Washington started its first drive on its 10-yard line. After two short gains on first and second down, the Tigers gave the ball to tailback Eric Scott, who broke a few tackles and ran 35 yards before finally being brought down. Two incomplete passes, however, caused the drive to stall. Lincolnton started on its 38- yard line after the punt.

TY McGILL STOPS A LINCOLNTON RED DEVIL COLD He had seven tackles, fiveassists, and an interception Saturday. The Red Devils again moved down the field with short-yardage plays. On third and long, Lincoln completed a 32-yard pass for its first touchdown of the game. The extra point was good, putting the Devils ahead 7-0 with 34 seconds left in the first quarter. After the kickoff, the quarter ended with the Tigers suffering a one-yard loss.

A 12-yard run by Scott out to the W-W 31-yard line gave Washington a first down to start the second quarter. Three plays later the Tigers were forced to punt. Lincolnton managed to partially block the punt, taking over on the W-W 48-yard line. The Red Devils scored in five plays, ending with an 18-yard touchdown run. Lincoln made the extra-point, increasing its lead to 14-0 with 7:49 left in the first half.

Washington went three-and-out for the first time on its next drive. The Red Devils ran the punt back 60 yards for a touchdown, but an illegal block-in-the-back nullified the return and brought the ball back to the Lincoln County 39-yard line. Two more penalties against Lincolnton gave the Devils first down and 15 yards to go on their own 24-yard line. After a short gain and an incomplete pass for Lincoln, Tevin Turman came up with a sack to stop the Red Devils on third down. Lincolnton snapped the ball over the punter's head on fourth down, giving the Tigers the ball on the Red Devils' 13-yard line. After a short run by Scott, Caleb Saggus took the handoff and gained nine yards down to the goal line before having the ball knocked from his grip. Lincoln recovered the fumble on the two-yard line and promptly started driving down the field. With just seven seconds left in the half, defensive back DeDe Stewart deflected a Red Devil pass to safety Ty McGill who returned the ball to the Tigers' 49-yard line before being tackled.

Senior running back/receiver/ defensive back Caleb Saggus is sidelined for the season with a broken foot. Washington tried for a last second touchdown to end the half, which ended in disaster. Tiger quarterback Teverrius Jones launched the ball down field, where it was caught by Saggus, who ran for a 21-yard gain before being tackled. While he was being tackled, Saggus' foot rolled under him, breaking it in three places and putting the Tigers' top receiver out for the year.

Washington started the second half with the ball. Two carries by Scott for a total of 20 yards put the Tigers on their 40-yard line. Washington lost another fumble on the next play, giving Lincoln County the ball on the W-W 39-yard line. The Tiger defense held strong, sopping the Red Devils at the 19-yard line and forcing them to kick a field goal. The kick was good, making the score 17-0 with 7:56 left in the third quarter. Washington started on its 21-yard line after the kickoff and began its longest drive of the game. Three carries by Scott moved the Tigers out to their 40-yard line. A holding call against the Devils gave Washington a first down at the 50-yard line. On fourth-and-nine on the Lincoln 49-yard line, Jones faked the punt and ran 11 yards for the first down. After a six yard gain by Scott, Jones' pass was intercepted at the Lincoln County 13-yard line. The Tiger defense forced the Red Devils to go three-and-out, with McGill fair-catching the punt at the W-W 39- yard line. Two short gains by Deon Jackson ended the quarter.

Two plays into the fourth quarter the Tigers had to punt. Lincoln started on its 38-yard line and quickly moved down the field with a 22-yard run and a 32-yard half-back pass. The drive ended with a three-yard touchdown run for the Red Devils. A bad snap on the PAT caused Lincolnton to throw the ball into the end zone for a two-point-conversion, giving the Devils a 25-0 lead with 9:30 left in the fourth quarter. Stewart returned the ensuing kickoff for 17 yards to the W-W 22-yard line. The Tigers went three-and-out, punting to the Lincoln County 38-yard line. On first down, Tyrance Ashmore forced a fumble, and Jackson recovered it, giving Washington the ball on the Red Devils' 37-yard line. Three plays later another Jones pass was intercepted at the Lincoln County 30-yard line and returned to the W-W 48-yard line. After a personal foul by the Tigers, Lincoln had first down on Washington's 33-yard line. The Red Devils scored on its first play with a 33-yard touchdown run. The PAT was good again, giving the game its final score of 32-0 with 5:20 left in the game. The Tigers went three-and- out on their next drive, punting to the Lincoln 25-yard line. The Red Devils also went three-and-out, punting back to Washington with just seconds left in the game. Jones threw an 18-yard pass to Akiemos Coleman to end the game.

The Tigers generated 162 yards Saturday, 129 rushing yards and 36 passing yards. Scott was the leading rusher with 14 carries for 105 yards. Next was Saggus with one carry for nine yards. Saggus was also the leading receiver with one reception for 21 yards. On defense the Tigers were led by McGill with seven tackles, fiveassists, and an interception. Next was Anthony Smith with six tackles, fiveassists, a sack, and two tackles-forloss.

This week Washington-Wilkes starts its region schedule with a trip to Dawson County. Like W-W, Dawson is 0-3 on the season. Also like Washington, Dawsonville has been plagued with several early season injuries. Offensively, Dawson uses a spread offense, running and passing an equal amount of the time. Defensively, Dawsonville uses a 3-5 front. Kickoff is at 7:30 in Dawsonville.

Tigers vs. Lincoln Co.

(statistics compiled by Scott Chafin)
W-W LC
First Downs 8 12
First Downs Rushing 5 8
Yards Rushing 129 158
Yards Passing 36 75
Passes 3-10-2 4-7-1
Total Yards 162 233
No. Penalties 7 5
Yds. Penalized 50 50
Fumbles/lost 6/2 3/1
Punts/avg. 6/26.0 3/40.0
Return yards 57 23

Score by quarters

Tigers 0 0 0 0 - 0 Lincoln Co. 7 7 3 15 - 32