Friday the 13th and the first glimpse of winter weather faired well for the Shelby County Wildcats (5-2, 4-1) as they trounced the Brookwood Panthers 41-7 to claim another 5A Region 3 win.

On a date that features a plethora of folklores, a homecoming crowd packed Papa McCombs Stadium as the Wildcats moved one step closer toward securing a spot in postseason play.

The Wildcat offense hit the ground running, scoring on their first two offensive possessions. Junior running back Tyrone Buie found the Panther endzone on runs of 3 and 33 yards.

With the first quarter coming to a close, Wildcat quarterback Aaron Howard added to the offensive production when he scored from the Panther 2-yard-line.

As the first quarter came to a close, SCHS held a 21-0 lead.

In the second quarter Shelby County put together two additional scoring drives with Wildcat fullback Kevin Stafford finding the end zone on a 3-yard scamper and Daniel Watkins catching a 14-yard toss from Howard.

Shelby County held a 34-0 halftime lead with a stingy Wildcat defense, forcing six Panther punts and allowing them only one first down and negative yards rushing.

SCHS graced the Panther end zone one final time when Darian Sutton muscled his way in from the Panther 2-yard-line on their first offensive possession of the third quarter.

With the game out of reach, Panther quarterback Andy Green managed to discover the Wildcat goal line for the only Brookwood score of the night.

The game clock reached zero with Shelby County securing yet another region win.

SCHS controlled the line of scrimmage, rolling up 309 yards rushing and 108 yards through the air with Buie finishing the night with 155 all-purpose yards.

Along with Howard completing 6 of 10 passing attempts, young quarterback Braten Dill got in on the action, completing three passes on three attempts.

Richard Sutton led the Wildcat defense with 11 tackles and one sack, while Blake Horton added six tackles for Shelb County.

&8220;This is another big win for us and I am proud of our kids and coaches,&8221; said Wildcat head coach Ryan Herring. &8220;They are doing a great job. We are building momentum after two back-to-back wins. Any time you win it builds momentum.&8221;

The momentum couldn&8217;t come at a more opportune time for the Wildcats. Two critical region games remain, McAdory this week and Wilcox Central the following week.

As the soap opera of Region 3 continues to take shape, SCHS is in control of its own destiny, needing only to win one of the two remaining games to guarantee a spot in the post season. However, losses from other region foes could place the Wildcats in without another win.

&8220;The Homecoming activities were excellent this week,&8221; Herring said. &8220;Anything that builds school spirit is a great thing.&8221;