DUMAS - Blending their cus‐tomary ground attack with some crucial defensive stops, the Ri‐son Wildcats opened their 2022 football season in convincing fashion last Friday night at Tid‐well Field, spanking the Dumas Bobcats, 31-12.
'I was so proud of all of them,' said Rison head coach Clay Totty, starting his 25th sea‐son at the helm of the Wildcats. 'It was just people doing their jobs. And to not have any turnovers, and allowing only a few big plays, it was all huge for us. I know coach Baggett (for‐mer defensive coordinator Kent Baggett, who died earlier this year) would have been real happy with this group's effort.'
Totty said he felt like the last play of their first half proved to be crucial for his team. With Ri‐son ahead, 16-6, and 4 seconds to go in the second quarter, the Wildcats' Blaine Dixon and Keyshawn Heard defended on quarterback Joseph Jones' pass to Guillermo Petty in the end zone from 23 yards out, the aerial falling incomplete and keeping it a 10-point game at the break.
'I think that (the incompletion) was real big for us, because we came out to start the second half and scored to go up 18, so really, some crucial moments for us right there,' Totty remarked. 'I was just pleased with the de‐fense and what we did. We came up to make tackles on their short pass completions. We had some inexperience back there, but they did well.'
Defensively, Totty said Dixon and Roger Boswell, seniors, had a good game, while Heard, a sophomore, had 5 tackles and a pass breakup. Sophomroe line‐backer Thomas Wilson was in on 7 tackles, and junior ZaKyler Walker had a pass interception, the lone turnover for the Bob‐cats, which came moments be‐fore Rison's second touchdown.
With not even a semblance of a running attack, the Class 4A Bobcats were limited to a net 9 yards on the ground on just a dozen rushes. However, using quick throws to the outside or bubble tosses across the middle, spiced w...
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