CARTERVILLE – The Carterville Lions took on the Nashville Hornets for their home opener on Friday night and came out on top with a 35-14 win.

The first quarter proved to be uneventful for both sides, each only scoring once. However the Lions picked it up and scored within the last 2 minutes of the half, entering the locker room with a lead of 21-7.

To begin the third, the Hornets made a 22 yard touchdown pass to lighten their deficit. but that did not stop the Lions. Senior Brandon Skelcher made a 20 yard touchdown pass to senior Braden Wakey to further their lead to 28-14.

The Lions stayed hot in the fourth quarter with a single touchdown from junior Amon Cosey.

Wakey played a huge part in the Lions’ win on offense as well as defense. Wakey grabbed 2 fumble recoveries and a solo tackle on defense as well as scoring two of the five Lion touchdowns. 

Junior’s Riley Crain and Cosey played a notable role in the Lions offense as well. Crain received 2 touchdown passes and had a total of 53 receiving yards. Cosey had a single rushing touchdown and a total of 100 rushing yards for the Lions.

“I would say I was confident going into the game after how we performed week one. Going into my last first home game against Nashville was made easier by how well our team has performed as a unit so far,” said Wakey. 

Join Wakey and the rest of the Lions football team this Friday at West Frankfort for week three.

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