By Richard Sharp
Lake Area Sports
MAGAZINE-Looking to stay unbeaten in the new 2A-4 league, the Quitman Bulldogs took to the road at Magazine last Friday night, but it would be the host Rattlers who would be spoiling those plans and present a shift on the leaderboard, claiming a 43-31 victory in what turned out to be a wild shootout down the stretch.
The Rattlers would strike first with a 25-yard run from senior Bradley Price that resulted in a touchdown, clipping on an additional two points courtesy on a catch that crossed the plain. Quitman would answer with an eight-point drive of their own after junior quarterback William Litton found a wide open receiver in senior Landon Lumon for a 65-yard pass and touchdown, tying the affair with a two-point conversion on a quarterback keep from Litton.
Magazine would continue to utilize their running game as senior quarterback Tatum Scott would breeze past all Bulldog defenders for 38 yards and six more before Vaughn attacked the left side for two additional points to go back up 16-8 with 8:49 in the second period.
Scott would show his arm off minutes later, threading the needle to receiver Austin Droemer for another touchdown to extend the advantage to 22-8, holding the visitors on the ensuing kickoff before heading to the locker room for the halftime intermission.
Down but not out, the Bulldogs battled and got themselves back into the game after Trevor Locke scored on a 65-yard pass from Litton, cutting the deficit down to 30-15 before the Rattlers marched back down and added to their total, leading to Litton slicing his way in for a touchdown on another keep play, finding Locke for two before Vaughn took it to the house on a long run to provide the dagger despite Litton stuffing the stat sheet for yet another touchdown after senior Erin Mathes hauled in a pass from the right corner of the endzone to set the final score at 43-31.
Litton finished the contest with four total touchdowns, completing 14 of 34 passes for 323 yards and rushing seven times for 46 yards. Mathes caught four passes for 106 yards and a touchdown, while Locke added five receptions for 120 yards and a touchdown and Luman inhaled four passes for 94 yards and a touchdown.
Litton also led the defense with 31 total tackles as senior Jett Silor followed right behind with 30, also getting 14 from sophomore Trevor Hensley and 10 from senior Gannon Vaughn.
Quitman faced off against Bigelow this past Friday night at home in a key matchup between two squads still in the hunt for the 2A-4 conference championship.