Wadley running back Jaquez Wilkes admires his handiwork on the Wadley scoreboard during the Bulldogs’ 62-10 win over Cedar Bluff in the first round of the state playoffs Thursday in Wadley.
The last time Wadley and Cedar Bluff met, Wadley lost on a heartbreaking go-ahead touchdown pass in the final minute of a 2015 playoff game. And if there’s such a thing as an exact opposite of a last-second loss, Wadley’s first-round playoff reunion with Cedar Bluff Thursday night was it.
The Bulldogs led from start to finish and were never seriously threatened in an emphatic 62-10 win in Wadley.
Jaquez Wilkes ran for 190 yards and four touchdowns on just seven carries, Brent Langley completed all four of his passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns (one each to Frisco Robertson and Logan Murr), and Wadley got rushing touchdowns from Cortavion Lynch and Trae Heath to round out a wildly successful offensive effort.
Wadley had eight offensive possessions and scored touchdowns on all of them. More impressively they needed a grand total of just 22 offensive plays the entire game to score those eight touchdowns.
Wilkes had a 140 yards in his first three carries, which included touchdown runs of 70 and 68 yards. Wadley scored on three of its first six plays and led 20-3 at the end of the first quarter. That absurd level of efficiency was aided by a long punt return by Robertson that set Wadley up with a first and goal on one of its first-half possessions.
The running clock in the second half also limited the number of possessions in the game, and Lynch’s 45-yard pick six in the second half gave Wadley points without the need for an offensive play.
Wadley’s defense was equally impressive, as that unit gave up a 39-yard field goal on Cedar Bluff’s opening drive and then allowed nothing until a fourth-quarter touchdown with the Wadley backups on the field.
The 52-point margin of victory was Wadley’s largest in a playoff game since a 54-0 Wadley win over J.U. Blacksher in the 2007 first round.
Wadley now awaits the winner of Friday’s first-round game between South Lamar and Meek. If South Lamar wins Wadley will host that second round game. If Meek wins Wadley will travel to Meek in round two.
