The Wilson Tiger varsity football program earned its first undefeated district record in school history this past Friday with a 36-14 home win over the Watts Engineers.
The 22-point victory in the regular-season finale gives the Tigers a spotless 6-0 district record with the Wilson gridiron squad finishing the regular season with a schoolbest 9-1 record and 7-game win streak.
The Tigers will make their second-straight playoff appearance this Friday when they welcome the Paoli Pugs to the Tiger Den for a Class C first-round battle. Paoli punched its ticket to the postseason with a 56-34 win last Friday over Maysville.
An opening-round win Friday against Paoli will put the Wilson squad into next week’s Class C quarterfinal round at home against the winner of Ryan and Tyrone, who meet Friday in Ryan, while an opening-round loss to Paoli will bring the Tigers’ 2023 season to a close.
Kickoff for Friday’s playoff opener against Paoli is set for 7 p.m. at the Tiger Den at Wilson High School.
In Friday’s regular-season finale against Watts, the Tigers got a pair of long-distance TD runs by Zion Shelburn in the opening frame. The freshman opened the scoring with a 21-yard TD run, then galloped 32 yards to paydirt later in the frame. Charles Shelburn crossed the goal line in the conversion run following the first TD run by Zion Shelburn, while the run attempt on the second score was unsuccessful to give Wilson a 14-0 lead at the end of the first 12 minutes of action.
The lone score of the second quarter came on a 13-yard TD pass from Charles Shelburn to Juaquin Rivera. Ethan Cullum’s successful conversion run sent the Tigers to the halftime break with a commanding 22-0 advantage. After a scoreless third quarter kept the Wilson lead at 22-0, the Tigers extended their lead to 28-0 with a 60-yard aerial strike from Charles Shelburn to Zion Shelburn.
After the Engineers got on the scoreboard with a 1-yard TD run in the final frame, Charles Shelburn completed a 42-yard pass to Keshon Shelburn for the final Wilson tally of the contest. Cody Gryder bulldozed his way into the end zone on the conversion attempt to put the host Tigers in front by a 36-6 margin.
Watts capped off the scoring last Friday night with a 12-yard TD run and successful conversion run to make the final outcome, 36-14, in favor of the host Wilson Tigers.
— Wilson 36, Watts 14
Watts: 0 – 0 – 0 – 14 (14) Wilson: 14 – 8 – 0 – 14 (36) — First Quarter Wilson – Zion Shelburn, 21-yard run (Charles Shelburn run) Wilson – Zion Shelburn, 32-yard run (Run Failed) — Second Quarter
Wilson – Juaquin Rivera, 13-yard pass from Charles Shelburn (Ethan Cullum run) — Third Quarter No Score — Fourth Quarter
Wilson – Zion Shelburn, 60-yard pass from Charles Shelburn (Run Failed) Watts – 1-yard run (Run Failed) Wilson – Keshon Shelburn, 42-yard pass from Charles Shelburn (Cody Gryder run) Watts – 12-yard run (Run Good)
