War Eagle receiver Samron Brinson hauls in a 24-yard touchdown pass. PHOTOS BY KEN FIELDS

Quarterback Haden Klees scores on a 1-yard run.

The Wakulla War Eagles faced a home matchup with the Mosley Dolphins on Friday, Sept. 23 at J.D. Jones Stadium – the game was a back-and-forth, evenly matched affair before Mosley pulled away from Wakulla in the fourth quarter.

The Dolphins won 38-28, handing the War Eagles their first loss of the season.

Head Coach Scott Klees said on Monday that, after watching the tape of the game, that his team made mistakes, a lot of mistakes, “But they continued playing up to the last whistle. They played hard, they continued to fight – and as long as they have that attitude, you have a chance to keep improving.” Klees said he would be looking at how the team responds after the loss. “It’s gonna be interesting to see,” he said. “Every team is different.

In the first quarter Mosley received the opening kick and drove down the field to score a touchdown to go up 7-0 early, but the War Eagles answered on the first series with a 10 yard touchdown run from Jeremiah Thomas and the extra point from kicker Chase Linville.

Mosley scored again late in the 1st quarter on a 22-yard touchdown reception to take a 14-7 lead but the War Eagles answered again with a 1-yard touchdown run from junior quarterback Hayden Klees to tie the game 14-14 at the end of the first quarter.

The action continued in the 2nd quarter as Mosley scored on a breakaway 55 yard touchdown catch and extra point to take a 21-14 lead on the War Eagles.

Later in the 2nd quarter Wakulla answered with a 24-yard strike from Klees to receiver Samron Brinson to make it 21-21.

Mosley scored again with 33 seconds before the halftime break on a 4 yard touchdown rush to take a 28-21 lead over the War Eagles into the half. The War Eagles received the ball to start the second half but failed to convert the opening drive into points.

With 9 minutes to go in the third quarter Mosley extended the lead with a 10 yard touchdown reception to make the score 35-21.

Wakulla would not be done though, and drove the ball into the end zone to cap off a drive late in the third quarter to make the score 35-28. In the fourth both defenses held control until Mosley put the game away with a 22 yard field goal to make the final score 38-28.

The Wakulla War Eagles fall to 3-1 on the season.

Defense - Dalton Avera 4 solo tackles 1 assisted tackle and 1 fumble recovery

Offense - Samron Brinson 8 receptions for 120 yards and a touchdown Overall - Xavier Blake 4 kickoff returns for 165 yards with a long of 85 and 11 carries for 63 yards with 42 yards on 4 receptions.

NEXT UP: RICKARDS

The War Eagles are scheduled to host the 2-3 Rickards Raiders on Friday night – depending on Hurricane Ian.

Coach Klees said that we will see a team very similar to Mosley when we face the Raiders adding they have multiple Division 1 prospects. Rickards has an Oklahoma commit who is receiver and kick returner who is the fastest guy th War Eagles have played this year. There’s another Division 1 commit who lines up in the slot, plays some quarterback and is on defense.

“They’re gonna do what Mosley did – so we’re gonna see how much we’ve improved,” Klees said.

Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m.

Wakulla War Eagles host the Rickards Raiders at J.D. Jones Stadium.