SCOOBA — It was a battle of two winless teams in Scooba on Friday as the Southeast Lauderdale Tigers and the Kemper County Wildcats squared off in some football action.

Before the game, Wildcat head coach William Clay said it would take a relentless effort in order for his team to get the win. The Wildcats showed relentlessness for all four quarters, en route to a 48-13 win.

Wildcat wide receiver Aidan Burrage had the spotlight on him all night, scoring three touchdowns and being honored as the school’s homecoming king at halftime. 

The Tigers started off hot, but were unable to keep the heat going after an impressive start on both sides of the ball.

Immediately after getting a defensive stop, the Tigers were able to move the ball well before Turner Horn broke free for a 42-yard touchdown run. They held the 7-0 lead until the end of the first quarter.

With just over nine minutes left until halftime, Kemper was able to drive down the field and end the drive with a three-yard touchdown run from quarterback Kendetryon Backstrom. The Wildcats, who have experienced trouble on the PAT, went for two and converted to take an 8-7 lead.

This began the quick flip of momentum, as Kemper scored again once they got the ball back. This time it was as Jaquavion Mason who ran up the middle and gained about 12 yards before fumbling into the endzone. Burrage was able to recover the fumble for a Wildcat touchdown.

Later in the quarter, the sophomore Backstrom threw his first career touchdown on a 35-yard dime to Burrage for the 26-7 halftime lead. In the second half, Southeast held the ball for a majority of the quarter until Branderrious Wallace was able to score from a yard out and make it a two possession game. It did not remain a two possession game for long as Kemper scored fast with a little help from a long kickoff return from AlJavion Gordon.

The Wildcats were able to capitalize as Mason scored from three yards out while also scoring the conversion to make it a 34-13 game.

On the kickoff, Kemper forced a Southeast fumble and recovered. Just a few seconds of play later, Backstrom would throw his second touchdown pass of the night to Burrage from around 35 yards out.

After riding out the majority of the rest of the game, Kemper County once again scored on a run by Toddrick Rush to put the nail in the coffin.

Southeast Head Coach Wade Pierce was not fooled by Kemper’s 0-3 record going into the game.

“Kemper is a really good football team,” Pierce said. “They were just better than us up front.”

Pierce did like what he saw early in the game, however, and wishes the early success would have continued.

“We just couldn’t sustain it,” Pierce said. “We just gotta keep building every week and getting better.”

The Tigers will face Union next week at home.

Kemper County’s Clay was excited for his first win of the season.

“That win gives us some confidence going into district play,” Clay said as his team begins district play against Lake on the road next week. “They executed well tonight.”

Clay said he was proud of his team getting the win.

“We’ve just got to keep harping on what we have been teaching and get better at the small things,” he said.