TYLERTOWN – The Wesson Cobras traveled south down Highway 27 to face the Salem Wildcats Friday night.

After a long hard fought battle, the Cobras suffered an disappointing 22-14 loss to the Wildcats in an non-divisional football contest.

“I was proud of the way our guys competed against a good Salem football team,” said Cobra coach Ronald Greer. “We missed two scoring opportunities in the redzone in the second half, and we needed to finish those drives. We also gave up one long run in the second half that put Salem ahead.”

The Cobras started the game by working their way down the field on six first downs. Kendrick Brown rushed into the end zone to put the first points on the score board. The extra-point attempt was blocked by the Wildcats.

The Wildcats took over, and O.J. Magee ran for the end zone to even up the score. Ethan Leal made the extra-point, which put Salem ahead with a score of 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.

Wesson’s Dartavious Dixon started off the second quarter with a completed pass from quarterback Tyler Christmas and slipped past the Wildcat defense for a touchdown. Frank Thigpen ran the ball in for the two-point conversion, adding eight points for the Cobras.

The Wildcats tried to fight back on the next possession but lost the ball on a failed pass on a fourth down when Thigpen blocked the ball. Wildcats’ Stevie Quinn rushed 70 yards on Salem’s next possession to tie the score going into halftime.

After halftime, Salem came back strong with another touchdown when Julius Faulk ran 82 yards to put the Wildcats ahead of the Cobras. The Cobras battled back and made it to the 9-yard line. They couldn’t take it to the end zone. Salem held the Cobras, and the game ended with a final score of 22-14.

Offensively, Wesson finished with 44 rushes for 139 yards. Tyler Christmas was four for nine in passing for 94 yards, totaling 233 total yards. Leading rushers were Kendrick Brown with 12 carries for 31 yards. Farrod Green had six carries for 32 yards and received two catches for 44 yards.

Defensively, the leading tackler was Jeremiah Stapleton with nine tackles, DeMarcus Smith with seven tackles and Enrique Smith with six tackles.

The Wesson Cobras (2-4) will host the Hazlehurst Indians next Friday night at Stone Stadium. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.