The Selma Saints defended their home turf with tenacity Friday night against the Benjamin Russell Wildcats, shutting out the visiting team 28-0.

The Wildcats came out of the gate ready to stop the Saints on the first drive of the football game, keeping the home team out of the end zone on their first attempt.
Wildcats Defensive Lineman Curtis Norris, 72, had an early sack stopping Selma Quarterback Keondre Hope, 3, from getting the ball to any of his fellow Saints.
The Wildcats also failed to find their footing on their first attempt to put some points on the board, being sent back to the sidelines fairly quickly by the Saints defense.
The Saints fell into an offensive rhythm their next drive.
A 50-yard run by Senior Running Back Tre’Derion Phillips, 20,  put the Saints in a sweet spot to score, allowing Dion Nelson, 7, to put the Saints first touchdown on the board, yet failing to complete the attempted two-point conversion, with around three minutes left in the first quarter.

The Wildcats seemed to lock into a groove near the end of the first half, finally finding their way across mid-field thanks to a few quick passes by Wildcat Quarterback Carter Smith, 12, to Wide Receivers Elijah Spivey and Ryan Willis.

Despite the effort, the Wildcat offense went back to sidelines without having scored.

The Saints scored their second run with 31.8 seconds remaining in the first half thanks to a big pass from Hope to Wide Receiver Gabe Wade, 1, a couple of impressive runs by Running Back Amarian Molette and finally a pass from Nelson to Pope putting the Saints up 12-0 at the end of the half.

The Saints scored two more touchdowns in the second half of the football game, this time managing to complete both 2-point conversions, resulting in the final score, 28-0.

The first touchdown was a completed pass thrown to Wide Receiver JaVontae Stubbs, 16, and the second a run from Nelson.

“Great game,” said Selma Head Coach Willie Gandy of his player’s performance.

Gandy added his players showed excellent discipline on both sides of the football, something the team worked hard on in practice this week.

Gandy commended his team’s defense for stopping the Wildcats on all fronts.

“If we stop people from scoring, we’re going to win the football game,” he said.

Benjamin Russell Head Coach Kevin Smith said that the Wildcat’s loss was due to a lack of consistency on both sides of the ball.
“We did not play consistency like we should,” said Smith. “We had some breakdowns on defense that we haven’t been having. We didn’t throw the ball really well. We got pushed around a lot up front.”

Smith said he would encourage his players to keep their heads up as they work towards next week’s game against Demopolis.

“These kids fight hard, they play hard. We’ve just got to get us a break. But you’ve got to go make your breaks that’s what we’re going to work on.”