By By Austin Bishop/The Meridian Star
Nov. 17, 2001
CLINTON, La. The homestanding Silliman Institute Wildcats showed why they were the No. 1 ranked team in MPSA Class 3-A Friday night by handily defeating the Lamar School Raiders 45-7 here in the first round of the playoffs.
Silliman scored touchdowns on four of its first five possessions to move into the South State finals against Centreville next Friday night.
It didn't take long for the powerful 12-0 Wildcats to strike as Daniel Fudge scored on a nine-yard run with 9:38 left in the first quarter. Kemp Darsey kicked the extra point to put SA up 7-0 following the six-play, 63-yard drive.
On it's next possession, Silliman struck even quicker as it took the Wildcats just three plays to cover 68 yards and score on a 45-yard pass from Micah Shilling to Mat Cazedessus. The extra point made it 14-0 with 4:43 to go in the first quarter.
Silliman is loaded with outstanding athletes, including tight end Andrew Wicker, who has committed to play football for Ole Miss; and Shilling, who signed a baseball scholarship with LSU on Wednesday.
But the young Raiders weren't intimidated, however, as they drove 65 yards on nine plays to score on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Drew Moffett to Daniel Harrison with 1:38 left in the first quarter. The kick by Heath Rush made it 14-7.
Sillman responded by driving 82 yards for a touchdown, that coming on 46-yard TD run by Fudge with 11:34 left in the half. The kick failed. Fudge ended the night with 149 yards on 11 carries.
Silliman ended the first half scoring on a 62-yard run by Shilling with 6:18 left in the second quarter to make it 26-7.
The Wildcats struck quickly in the third quarter. After a long kickoff return, it took Silliman three plays to score on a four-yard run by Michael Aucoin with 10:38 left in the third quarter to make it 32-7. The extra point try failed.
Silliman closed out the scoring with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, one a 77-yard pass from Shilling to John Chase, and the other a 14-yard run by Aucoin.
Cameron Coleman led Lamar with 49 rushing yards on seven carries, while Moffett had 11 carries for 47 yards.a
Zack Moore had four catches for 45 yards to end his senior season with 48 reception. Lamar closes the season at 3-9.