WINONA — After getting crushed by Frankston last week the West Rusk Raiders defeated the Winona Wildcats 28-14 on the road. The win was the third of the year for West Rusk and the second in District 9-2A, Division II.

The Wildcats are 1-7 overall and in search of their first district win. 

West Rusk quarterback Cayle Bickham went 11 of 15 for 157 yards and two touchdowns through the air and one touchdown on the ground. Josh Reese ran the ball 13 times for 118 yards.

 Ke’Aaron Cobb of the Wildcats ran the ball 19 times for 127 yards and one touchdown. Luke Logan had seven carries for 75 yards. 

Winona struck first just under a minute into the game when Cobb took it to the house from 62 yards out to go up 7-0 early. 

Nobody scored until the second quarter when Bickham scored on a 34-yard touchdown run to tie the game up with 9:15 left in the half. 

Moments later the Wildcat ground attack proved effective as Brodrick Thompson capped off a drive with a 1-yard touchdown to give the lead back to his team, 14-7.  

The Raiders responded before halftime when Tra Gordon hauled in a 17-yard pass in the end zone from Bickham to knot up the game.

The entire third quarter went scoreless. 

Then, with 10:53 left in the game, a shuffle pass from Bickham to Josh Reese turned into a 60-yard route to the end zone and the first lead for the Raiders. 

Winona had its chances but was unable to capitalize. 

West Rusk tacked on the final points of the game with a 15-yard run from Reese with 47 seconds remaining. 

That gave the Raiders a comfortable 14-point lead. 

The Wildcats had one last shot, but were unable to put anything together. 

A sack on third down followed by an incompletion on fourth down gave the ball back to the Raiders who sealed up the victory. 

Winona is set to host Arp next week while West Rusk will host Joaquin.