Bakersville – The Andrews varsity football team took their first loss of the season to Mitchell 35-34 on Thursday night.
The game started close with neither team scoring until the second quarter, when they scored a combined 35 points.
Mitchell (3-1) took the lead into halftime after scoring three touchdowns and Andrews (2-1) scored two. Eli Aguilar made a 20-yard run to get their first touchdown of the game in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, both teams scored a touchdown to give Mitchell a 28-21 lead heading into the final quarter. Mitchell scored one touchdown, while Andrews scored two.
As Mitchell was knocking on the door of the red zone in the fourth quarter, Andrews’ Aguilar picked off the ball and returned it 78 yards to tie the game at 28.
Mitchell then scored to take a 35-28 lead. Andrews scored another touchdown, then went for a two-point conversion to win the game, but came up short resulting in the 35-34 final score.
Andrews quarterback Everett Tatham was 5/8 and threw for 61 yards with a touchdown in the air.
Tatham also rushed for 126 yards on 17 carries with a touchdown.
Aguilar had three touchdowns. Two rushing and one on a 76-yard pick six. He had 17 carries for 76 and yards and three receptions for 25 yards.
Holden Todd had six carries for 20 yards and LaDannien Rattler had two carries for nine yards. Braxton Rickett had one reception for 17 yards. Will Roberts’ only reception was for a 9-yard touchdown, while Kelby Waldroup had one 15-yard reception.
Wildcats freshman kicker Micah Gibson was 4/4 on extra points.
The offense totaled 231 yards on the ground with three touchdowns and had 61 yards and a touchdown in the air. They also had seven penalties totaling 50 yards.
On defense, Andrews had 16 solo tackles and 66 total tackles. Jerry Cable led with five solo tackles and nine assists.
Aguilar had three solo tackles and two assists, while Landon Greene had two solo tackles and six assists. Roberts had one solo tackle and 11 assists, while Kencade Watkins had eight tackle assists.
This week, the Wildcats are on the road again and will head to Calhoun Falls, S.C., to face Calhoun Falls Charter School. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. They will return home Friday, Sept. 27, to face Southside Christian in Andrews’ homecoming game.