West Lauderdale’s Dewayne Cox cuts across field as he weaves through Mendenhall defenders Friday night.

COLLINSVILLE — A pick-six by Mendenhall’s Tavaris Grace with less than a minute to go gave the Tigers a two-score cushion as Mendenhall beat West Lauderdale 41-28 in Region 5-4A action Friday night.

With the score tied 28-28 and the clock ticking down, Mendenhall’s Jordan Willis scored his fourth touchdown of the game to put the Tigers ahead 35-28 with 54 seconds remaining. On the ensuing West Lauderdale drive, Grace hauled in the game-sealing interception as the Tigers planted themselves firmly atop the 5-3A standings.

The Knights tied the score 28-28 on a Kurt Rackley 4-yard carry with 4:39 remaining and appeared to have momentum on their side when they recovered a fumble on Mendenhall’s 30 on the ensuing Tiger possession. West Lauderdale, however, coughed it back up at the 3:39 mark with a fumble of its own, which Mendenhall recovered on its own 38, setting up the Tigers’ go-ahead scoring drive.

West Lauderdale score first on a Dewayne Cox 50-yard scoring reception on a slant pass from Turbo McKee with 3:36 to go in the first quarter. Mendenhall responded with two touchdowns of its own in the second quarter, one on a 61-yard carry by Willis and another on a blocked punt in the end zone. West Lauderdale scored against on a 7-yard rush by Damien Mack with 5:27 remaining in the second, and Mendenhall would take a 15-13 lead at the break.

In the third quarter, Mendenhall and West Lauderdale each scored, with the Tigers’ Willis punching it in from 5 yards out and Rackley scoring from 4 yards out for the Knights.

In the fourth quarter, Willis scored his third touchdown on a 23-yard carry, but West Lauderdale tied it up 28-28 with Rackley’s 4-yard rush at the 4:39 mark.

Rackley finished with just 87 yards on 20 carries, and after his first three runs went for 13, 12 and 14 yards, he didn’t have a carry of more than 9 yards the rest of the game. The Knights finished with 182 total yards on the ground. McKee was 8 of 17 in passing for 155 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

West Lauderdale (5-4, 2-1) will play at Newton County next week.