POWDER SPRINGS — What started out as a first half defensive battle turned into a 28-7 runaway by the host McEachern Indians (2-4) over the Valdosta Wildcats (4-2) Friday night. With the score 7-7 at half, McEachern takeaways on three consecutive possessions became the winning margin.

Valdosta started out hot on defense. The Indians went three-and-out on their first four possessions. On the fifth, McEachern found an opening.

After getting its first first down of the game, McEachern had the ball on its own 45. On the next play the ‘Cats swarmed the backfield for an apparent loss, but the quarterback scrambled to his right, finding running back Seth Parker for a short completion near the sideline. Parker scampered the distance to the end zone to make the score 6-0. The extra point made the score 7-0 with 4:50 left until halftime.

Valdosta responded. They went 80 yards on nine plays culminating on a nine-yard shovel pass from Todd Robinson to Prince Jean to make the score 7-6. Franklin Garcia’s kick tied things up 7-7 with 1:05 until intermission.

Coach Shelton Felton used all his timeouts when McEachern came back on offense and forced a punt. The ‘Cats had no timeouts and 78 yards with :35 seconds to try to score. They got the ball down to McEachern’s 44 yard line with just a few seconds left. Robinson took the snap and rolled right as time expired and hit Prince Jean in stride as Jean raced for the front corner of the endzone. He was hit as he dove and landed out of bounds at the one-inch line.

Valdosta seemed poised to keep the momentum going from its two successful drives right before half, but the Indians’ defense had other plans. On the first play of the half, Robinson took a quarterback run 22 yards up the middle for an apparent first down. As he was going down, a McEachern defender came from behind and jarred the ball loose. The Indians recovered the fumble and had first and 10 on the Valdosta 41 10 seconds into the third quarter.

After a big pass play, McEachern had first and goal and knocked the ball in on a one-yard run by Parker. The extra point made the score 14-7 with 10:31 in the third period

Valdosta did not panic. Starting at their own 12 yard line the Wildcats went on possibly their best drive of the night. They used nine plays to have a first down on McEachern’s 17. Robinson hit Jamill Williams on a quick pass to the sideline, but a defender stripped Williams from behind and fell on the ball giving the possession on Valdosta’s 15.

McEachern went on their best drive of the night, driving 85 yards and using a 40-yard pass to make the score 20-7. The PAT made the score 21-7 at 4:39 in the third quarter.

The ‘Cats did not give up. Once again, they mounted an impressive drive. After starting on their own 10 yard line, they ran six plays to make it third down with four yards to go on the 50 yard line. Robinson hit Jean over the middle for a first down and a nice 24 yard gain, but once again the Indians popped the ball loose and fell on it.

An 85-yard drive that put the game away. The drive culminated with a 15-yard touchdown run by Jaydon Kinney, with the extra point making a 28-7 score.

Offensively, the Cats were led by Jean’s four catches for 125 yards and a touchdown. Robinson also had a good night running for 80 yards on 11 carries, while passing 12 for 21 for 211 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Deron Foster also had a good night rushing for 88 yards on 20 carries.

Eric Brantley once again had a stellar night, having a team high 7 tackles and 4 tackles for loss.

The Wildcats will be off this week in preparation for the Winnersville Classic on Oct. 6 at 8 p.m. at Bazemore Hyder Stadium.