CALHOUN CITY – Water Valley used a bend not break attitude to defeat the Calhoun City Wildcats 21-20 on Friday night. The win was the first win over Calhoun City since the 2018 season.

The Water Valley (3-1) defense opened the game with a fumble recovery by Que Carothers on the Wildcats opening possession. Carothers would score on a 5-yard run a few plays later for the Blue Devils only points of the first half. The Wildcats defense would force a fumble the next Blue Devil drive in the red zone.

The Wildcats would later score on a 10-yard keeper to take the lead 8-6. The Wildcats added a second score on a tipped 23-yard pass to make the score 14-6. The Wildcats would play keep away from the Blue Devils by running the clock on offense for the rest of the half.

“They had a great game plan by controlling the football in the first half. Credit to them, they saw us run 100 something plays last week and created a great plan,” said Water Valley coach Brad Embry.

In the second half, the Blue Devils found a way. The Blue Devil defense played big in the second half with a big sack from Jamalachi Jones and big stops from Ky Cooke to shut down the Wildcat offense. The Blue Devils would open the second half with CJ Telford scoring on a 1-yard run. A 43-yard catch set up the play by Marion Morgan.

Morgan would catch the 2 point conversion from Telford to tie the game at 14-14. The Wildcats would answer back in the fourth quarter with a touchdown on a 9-yard keeper by the quarterback to make the score 20-14. The Blue Devils would have a little luck and grit when

Sasa Freeman caught a tipped pass in the fourth quarter and took it to the 14-yard line for a 48 yard gain. Carothers would score his second touchdown of the night a few plays later on a 5-yard scamper.

The Blue Devil defense turned up the pressure on the Wildcats and forced them to a three and out to seal the game for the Blue Devils.

“I’m proud of our guys, Calhoun City is a good team, it’s a great win, and they are a really good football program,” Embry said. “We played with great effort and fight, but we just didn't play clean, and we have to work on that.

Water Valley will return to action next week as they travel to region 3-3A opponent Winona(3-0). The Tigers won last year’s matchup 36-14. Kickoff is set at 7PM.