WOODVILLE — Desmond Hunter almost brought Wilkinson County back from a big deficit against third-ranked Hazlehurst, but the Indians managed to hold on for a 26-22 win over the Wildcats Friday night in MHSAA Division 7-3A action.

Hazlehurst appeared to be in control after scoring a touchdown to go up 26-0 with just 4:09 remaining in the third quarter. But Wilkinson County would end making the Indians work harder they probably expected for this victory.

“If we played the first half like we did the second half, we win the game,” Wildcats head coach Kenneth Brown said. “They came in highly-ranked. We’ve got to stop putting pressure on ourselves.”

Hunter did not play like one of the top quarterbacks in the state in the first half and Brown so much as said so after the game.

“Early in the (first) half, a couple of passes were too high. He threw some in the dirt. Dropped a few passes. The second half, he settled down and played a whole lot better,” Brown said.

And that allowed the Indians (8-0, 3-0) to get out to such a big lead. They scored 12 points in the first quarter and eight in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 20-0 advantage. But after Hazlehurst’s touchdown in the third quarter, the Wildcats would not go away.

“The kids fought back in the second half. I think we’re getting better,” Brown said. “But we’ve got to make plays and we’ve got to tackle better.”

Wilkinson County cut the lead to 26-8 with 2:14 to go in the third quarter and put up 14 points in the fourth quarter. But the Wildcats rally attempt fell just a little bit short.

Hunter completed 33 of 52 passes for 481 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Juan Anthony had 10 catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns. Jaquarious Stewart had eight catches for 105 yards. Robert Swint had seven receptions for 78 yards and one touchdown.

A lack of a true running game also hurt Wilkinson County in this game. The Wildcats had just 60 yards on the ground. Hunter was the team’s leading rusher with 38 yards on seven carries while Phillip Thompson has seven carries for 22 yards.

Wilkinson County (4-5, 1-2) will be in a must-win situation when it plays at Port Gibson next Friday at 7 p.m.