Eagles suffer 'Cat Scratch Fever' 47-27
Rusk prepares for Westwood
LELAND ACKER
A big second quarter for the Palestine Wildcats gave the felines all the cushion they needed to cruise to a 47-27 victory over the Rusk Eagles at Wildcat Stadium in Palestine Friday. Palestine outscored Rusk 24- 14 in the second quarter to go ahead 34-21 at halftime. Palestine advances to 2-3 while Rusk falls to 1-3.

Rusk's first possession began at their own 25 yard line. Palestine held the Eagles to a three-andout, forcing Rusk to punt. Palestine drove to the 15 yard line before the Rusk defense held their ground and forced the Wildcats to kick a field goal.

"We're making progress," said Head Coach Wayne Mahaffey. "We're eliminating alignment errors and moving linemen to different locations. There are a lot of things we're not happy with, but a lot of things we're doing that are better."

Rusk responded with a 17 yard touchdown run by Horrace Lewis. Ricky Rojo tacked on the extra point to put the Eagles ahead 7-3 with 3:57 left in the first quarter. That would be the last time the Eagles would lead in the game. Palestine would put together a drive resulting in a three yard touchdown run by Olin Terry to go ahead 10-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Bobby McDuff l breaks open for 70 yards after catching a pass from Michael Katon. McDuff scored on this 70-yard reception and a 95-yard kickoff return. Rusk (1-3) will face Westwood (2-2) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Eagle Stadium. PHOTO: LYNN LITTLEJOHN

Rusk stayed close in the first half, courtesy of a 70-yard touchdown pass from Michael Katon to Bobby McDuff. Later, McDuff muffed a kickoff, but recovered it and scurried 95 yards for a touchdown.

Palestine got the ball first in the second half, and put together a 3:03 drive for a touchdown to extend the lead 41-21.

Both defenses clamped down in the third quarter. The Wildcats found the end zone again in the fourth quarter to go ahead 47-21.

Katon completed a 14 yard touchdown pass to J.J. Session with 27 seconds left in the game to bring the score to its final, 47-27.

Coach Mahaffey said he was not happy with the outcome, but the Eagles are making progress.

"We have a good defensive secondary," he said. "We only blew one coverage assignment against Palestine. We're not making many mistakes."

Coach Mahaffey said the Eagles have made a lot of progress, and if improvement continues, Rusk will have a good season.

"And I realize we're running out of time," he added.

Friday night, the Eagles will host the Westwood Panthers in what will be the second of four home games for Rusk.

"Westwood is about as good of a team as we have played," Coach Mahaffey said. "They are extremely talented, they have more skilled kids than any we've played so far. They are an excellent football team."

He said Westwood is as good as some of the teams the Eagles will face in district, so this Friday is a good time to play Westwood.

The Panthers are 2-2, with wins over Bullard and Brownsboro, and losses to Crockett and Chapel Hill. Perhaps it is to the Eagles' advantage that Rusk does not start with "B."

Westwood is led by quarterback Gralyn Crawford, who not only wreaked havoc on Rusk's defense last year, but has accumulated more than 1,000 yards this season between his rushing and passing game. Coach Mahaffey said the Eagles will be prepared to play Westwood.

"Our heads are not down," he said. "We've had good work for the last two weeks, more so than showed up on the scoreboard last Friday night."

Rusk will face Westwood at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Eagle Stadium. The game will be broadcast on KTLU 1580 AM, www.teamline.cc and Rusk cable channel 9.

Game Stats

SCORING BY QUARTER
Rusk 7	14	0	6	--	27
Palestine 10	24	7	6	--	47

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter
PALESTINE - Asa Davidson 32 yd field goal 8:41
RUSK - Horrace Lewis 17 yd run (Rojo kick) 3:57
PALESTINE - Olin Terry 3 yd run (Davidson kick) :00

Second Quarter
PALESTINE - Alex Powell 13 yd run (Davidson kick) 7:54
RUSK - Michael Katon 70 yd pass to Bobby McDuff (Rojo kick) 7:37
PALESTINE - Terry 15 yd run (Davidson kick) 5:56
PALESTINE - Terry 9 yd pass to Larry Jackson (Davidson kick) 2:17
PALESTINE - Davidson 21 yd field goal :29
RUSK - McDuff 95 yd kickoff return (Rojo kick) :13

Third Quarter
PALESTINE - Terry 20 yd pass to E.J. Spurlock (Davidson kick) 8:57

Fourth Quarter
PALESTINE - Terry 19 yd run (Davidson kick) 8:30
RUSK - Katon 14 yd pass to J.J. Session (kick failed) :27

	Rusk	Palestine
First downs	19	16
Rushes/yds	34-165	37-336
Passing yds	110	148
C/A/I	5-17-1	9-16-0
Fumbles/lost	0-0	1-0
Penalties/yds	8-60	11-75

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING - Rusk: Demarcus Skinner 13-82, Lewis 8-44, Marcel Johnson 5-34, Quinn Anthony 1-2. Palestine: Terry 15-169, Powell 12-135, Kevin Barry 6-44, Spurlock 1-3. PASSING - Rusk: Katon 5-17-1 110. Palestine:Terry 8-15-0 143, J.C. Johnson 1-1-0 5. RECEIVING - Rusk: McDuff 2-84, Session 1-14, Cody Daniel 3-13. Palestine: Spurlock 2-61, Jackson 3-39, Johnson 1-10, Burris 1-11.