Coach Steven Edwards goes over a drill with Wildkittens linemen during a practice session on Monday. (Democrat photo/Mark Randall)

Wildkitens head coach Nick Richardson must have yelled "Number Nine!" from the sidelines at least 30 times.

The reference was to Paragould quarterback Houston Anglin, who nearly single handedly spoiled the junior high opener in a 20-14 loss on Sept. 4 in Paragould.

Anglin carried the ball 16 times for 167 yards and was 2-3 passing with two touchdowns, including the clincher with 19 second remaining in the game.

"This guy whipped our tail," Richardson said. "They have a very good back. No doubt about that. We just didn't have an answer for their quarterback. We've got to be able to contain better than we did."

The Wildkittens jumped out to an early 6-0 lead. Jimmy Creecy took the opening kickoff 93 yards for the touchdown but failed to convert for two points.

The Junior Rams tied the game at 6-6 with 2:15 remaining in the first quarter on a 6 yard run by Anglin. The PAT kick was no good. The Rams took a 12-6 lead scoring on a 19 yard touchdown pass from Anglin to Nathan Sparkman and successfully converted for two points to make it 14-6 with seconds remaining in the half.

The Kittens battled back in the third quarter to tie the game 14-all on a 14 yard run by Taylor McPherson and converted for two points on a pass by Jimmy Creecy to Zak Buckner .

"We came back out in the second half and they did exactly as I wanted," Richardson said. "I told them to stop them so we could get the bal back and score. And they did. We got right back in the game by putting together a pretty good drive. Our kids fought hard and we got the two-point conversion. That put us right back in the game."

The Rams took advantage of a tired Trumann defense on its last offensive drive and put the game away with 16 seconds, scoring on a four yard run by Anglin to make it 20-14.

"Unfortunately, they just kind of outlasted us," Richardson said. "We have a lot of kids playing both ways and we just kind of ran out of gas and gave out. But hey, we played a 5A team to 14-14 and that's not bad."

Offensively, Creecy finished the night 3 of 7 passing for 37 yards. McPherson carried the ball five times for 35 yards and a touchdown. Quinton Buchanan had two receptions for 13 yards Zac Buckner had one reception for 10 yards and Nathan Maxwell had two receptions for 28 yards.

Richardson said overall he thought overall the team played well but needs to do a better job on defense tackling and attacking the ball.

"We just need to work on our defense," Richardson said. "We made some mistakes that we have to correct and that's what we will be working on this week.

"But not a bad first effort. The kids played hard and really battled and I am proud of them. We've got a chance next week to come out and get better. We're going to win some ballgames."