Football Recap: Willis' Luck Takes a Turn for the Worse on Saturday

By Team Reports Dec 2, 2024, 7:47am

Football Recap: Willis Wildkats vs. DeSoto Eagles

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It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Willis can now relate to. They came up short against the DeSoto Eagles on Saturday, falling 55-35. The Wildkats' defeat signaled the end of their 12-game winning streak.

Despite the loss, Willis still got an impressive performance from Jack Emerson, who threw for 453 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 10.8 yards per attempt. Emerson is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last 11 games he's played. A healthy portion of Emerson's aerial production (111 yards to be exact) went to Terri Lawrence, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.

Deondrae Riden Jr. continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for DeSoto, rushing for 254 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 7.3 yards per carry. With that strong performance, Riden Jr. is now averaging an impressive 2.1 rushing touchdowns per game. Another player making a difference was SaRod Baker, who rushed for 162 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries.

Having lost for the first time this season, Willis fell to 12-1. As for DeSoto, the win (which was their seventh in a row) raised their record to 11-2.

Willis does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for DeSoto, they will take on Longview at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. DeSoto knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 31 points or more in their past seven matches -- so hopefully Longview likes a good challenge.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps