Wilcox leads Leake Rebels past East Rankin 68-35

As the weather gets cooler, the Leake Academy offense is starting to heat up.

The Rebels rolled up 575 yards on friday night as sophomore quarterback George Wilcox had 461 yards passing, threw four touchdowns and ran in three more as Leake spoiled East Rankin’s homecoming with a 68-35 win.

Leake improves to 3-5 on the season and has won two straight. The Rebels will host Lamar School on Friday night for Senior night.

Leake coach Brian Pickens said the Rebels are starting to click on offense. 

 “We thought going in that we could throw the football,” Pickens said. “George looked really sharp and the receivers did a great job. The offensive line did a good job of protection and only gave up one sack. It’s fun when you can throw the ball around. Everybody got to play and it’s been a while since we have been able to do that. We’ve got two big games left and our kids keep on practicing hard and getting better.”

East Rankin got the ball to start the game and got past midfield but turned the ball over on downs after stopping a fake punt.

Leake went down the field and scored on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Wilcox to Jack Harkins with 6:17 left in the first quarter. Nowell hit the PAT and Leake led 7-0.

After forcing another punt, Leake again marched down the field and scored on a 3-yard run from Charlie Brantley with 37.8 seconds left in the quarter. Nowell hit the PAT and Leake led 14-0.

East Rankin cut that lead in half as they scored on a 70-yard run with 15 seconds left in the first to make the score 14-7 at the end of the first period.

It didn’t take Leake long to answer as Wilcox hit Ben Jackson on a 59-yard touchdown pass with 11:49 left in the second quarter. Nowell hit the PAT and Leake led 21-7.

East Rankin again hit another big run and scored on a 9-yard run with 10:56 left in the second to cut the Leake lead to 21-14.

The Rebels again came out firing and Wilcox hit Matthan Weaver on a 21-yard touchdown pass with 8:30 left in the second quarter. Nowell’s PAT gave Leake a 28-14 lead. 

East Rankin again answered with a 20-yard run to cut the lead to 28-21 with 6:28 left in the half.

The two teams traded touchdowns again as Leake scored on a 3-yard run from Brantley and East Rankin scored on a 3-yard run with 1:17 left in the half to make the score 35-28.

Leake again drove down the field field quickly and scored on a 5-yard run by Wilcox with 24.1 seconds left in the half for a 42-28 halftime advantage.

Leake got the ball to start the second half and again used some big plays to get in scoring territory. Wilcox finished off the drive with a 1-yard run with 8:55 left in the third to go up 49-28.

Leake got a defensive stop on East Rankin’s next drive and the Patriots snapped the ball over the punter’s head. Tyler Winstead made the tackle at the 1-yard line to give Leake a short field. Wilcox scored on the next play on a 1-yard run. Nowell’s PAT was blocked and Leake led 55-28 with 7:02 left in the third quarter.

East Rankin answered back with a 29-yard touchdown run with 1:40 left in the third to cut the Leake lead to 55-35.

Leake continued to air out the football and Wilcox hit Nowell on a 34-yard touchdown pass with 30 seconds left in the third. Nowell hit the PAT and Leake led 62-35.

Leake added one final score as Weaver scored on a 9-yard touchdown run with 8:53 left in the game. The two-point attempt failed for the final margin of 68-35.

The Rebels had 575 yards of total offense on the night. Wilcox was 23-of-32 passing for a career-high 461 yards with four TDs. Wilcox also rushed five times for 17 yards with three TDs. 

Nowell had nine catches for 183 yards while Jackson had seven catches for 134 yards. Weaver had six catches for 125 yards and 27 yards rushing on four carries. Jon David Gill had 38 yards rushing on three carries while Charlie Brantley had 31 yards on nine carries.

On defense, Camden Marble continued his strong play with 10 tackles. Nowell and Coby Kemp had 5.5 tackles while Tyler Winstead had five tackles. Grayson McDonald and Kade McGraw had 4.5 tackles while Garrett Joiner had four tackles. John Donovan had 3.5 tackles while Jack Harkins had three tackles and two pass break ups. Brantley also had an interception.