Cats scalp Indians 27-0
By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor

Newsboy photo/Jimmy Galvan KIRBYVILLE CAPTAINS FOR THE 2007 season are, from left to right, Ryan Jones, Dre Jackson, Pierce Rhodes and Richard Moore.

Any fears that Kirbyville was going to struggle once the season started were put to rest in Cleveland Aug. 31.

The Wildcats exploded for 19 second-half points to pull away from the Indians and ruin Ricky Tullos opener with Cleveland 27-0. The victory moved Kirbyville to 1-0 on the season while Cleveland fell to 0-1.

"I thought we played pretty good defense and pretty good overall," said Kirbyville Head Football Coach Jack Alvarez. "They had a couple of changes to score and I thought we stepped up and played some pretty good defense.

"I was real pleased with the defense getting the shutout," Alvarez said. "It was the first time we have had a shutout in two years."

Alvarez said he was impressed with the Cleveland squad this year.

"I thought they were much better than they were last year," Alvarez said. "I know we will see better competition than that later in the year but I was pleased with our effort.

The Wildcats scored the only points they would need in the first quarter when sophomore Fred Rhodes scored from 20 yards out. When the twopoint conversion failed, Kirbyville held a 6-0 lead.

The score remained 8-0 at the half before the Wildcats padded their lead in the third quarter.

This time, senior tailback Pierce Rhodes lit up the scoreboard for the Wildcats when he scampered in from 12 yards out. The score, at the 8:02 mark of the third quarter, and following twopoint conversion gave Kirbyville a 14-0 lead.

The Wildcats put the game away in the fourth quarter when Fred and Pierce Rhodes again scored for Kirbyville. Fred Rhodes scored from three yards out while Pierce Rhodes scored from 16 yards out as the Wildcats finished off the Indians.

For the contest, Kirbyville rushed for 179 yards as Pierce Rhodes paced the running attack with 101 yards on 13 carries. The Wildcats managed only 39 passing yards as Aaron Hazelwood connected on four of 10 passes. Pierce Rhodes was the leading receiver as he collected two passes for 39 yards.

Defensively, Kirbyville limited Cleveland to only 10 first downs while the Indians rushed for 166 yards and zero passing yards.

"It's coming together - it's a slow process because we're old in the skilled positions but young in the interior positions," Alvarez said. "The good thing is that those people will catch up as long as you have skilled people ready to back them up."

This Friday, the Wildcats will take on Carthage at Wildcat Stadium.

"They are very skilled and as speedy and big as anybody we will play," Alvarez said. "They are very talented squad."

Alvarez said the Wildcats would work on minimizing turnovers and try to avoid giving up the big plays.