Morganton- On a cold Saturday night along the banks of the majestic Catawba River, the Wildcats caught fire.
After trailing by one point at the end of the first quarter, Draughn outscored Patton 21-0 in the second quarter to roll towards a 39-21 win to move to 2-0 for a second consecutive season in the Northwestern Foothills 2A Conference.
For Draughn head coach Chris Powell, it's his first coaching win at Freedom High School - his alma mater - as Patton will be having their home games played at FHS due to field issues on their campus.
"This stadium will always have special meaning to me," said Powell, a 2003 FHS graduate. "At the same time, it's just another field to play on. It doesn't matter where we play, we are going to play to the best of our ability and our kids did that I'm proud of them."
The game opened with Beckett Nelson picking off Patton quarterback Kalen Byrd for a 33-yard interception touchdown return but the Wildcats missed on the extra point.
The Panthers responded with a score on the following drive, an 11-yard touchdown run by Deshawn Cantrell-Vazquez.
It soon turned into the Wildcats game to win as the second quarter started out with freshman quarterback Eli Tillery completing a 29-yard touchdown pass to Zach Pinkerton followed by a Tillery two-point conversion pass to Nigel Dula for a 14-7 lead.
Tillery tossed his second touchdown pass to Nelson for 18 yards and Omarion Conley scored a two-yard touchdown run as the Wildcats led 27-7 at the halftime break.
After giving up a third-quarter touchdown pass to Patton, the Wildcats went back on an offensive onslaught with Dula scoring a nine-yard touchdown run and Nelson getting his second touchdown reception off a 36-yard pass from Desmond Hedrick.
Draughn finished with 332 total yards to Patton's 262 and also forced three Panther turnovers with adding a fumble recovery by Eli Pritchard and an interception by Will Price.
The Wildcats now focus their attention towards next Friday's home matchup with Bunker Hill, a bit of a revenge game after falling short against the Bears 28-27 last season on the road.
"We helped them out last year by starting off slow and they took advantage, we got to have a good week of prep and move forward. I'm just extremely proud of our kids' heart and effort."
-Verse of the Day-
"He made the earth by his power: he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar: he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses."
-Jeremiah 51:15-16 (NIV)
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