SAND ROCK – It could have been easy for the Sand Rock Wildcats to overlook Class 2A, Region 6 football rival Westbrook Christian on Thursday night.

The No. 4 Wildcats were coming off an emotional overtime win against Fyffe six days earlier. They were also in the midst of senior week festivities, and had a shortened week of practice. Coaches from both teams decided to move the game to Thursday because of heavy rain in the forecast on Friday.

While both teams avoided the rain that was expected on Friday, they had to deal with a swirling wind that made passing a tough chore.

However, the Wildcats realized what was at stake, and that was continuing their undefeated season.

Behind a 21-point third-quarter surge, Sand Rock defeated Westbrook Christian 27-19. The win keeps the Wildcats’ hopes alive for only the third undefeated regular season under head coach Russell Jacoway. They’re 9-0 (7-0 in Region 6 play), with a trip to Spring Garden to end the regular season next week.

“I’m proud of our kids,” Jacoway said. “We came out really flat (in the first half). Three days of practice is not enough time to get over the emotions of last week, and (Westbrook) Coach (Tony) Osborne really had his bunch ready.

“In the third quarter, we played about as good as we could play, and that’s a credit to our kids. They came out and they got after it. They played really well.”

Sand Rock senior fullback Andy Andrews, who led the Wildcat rushing attack with 108 yards on 15 carries and two scores, described the past few days and moments leading up to the Westbrook game as “disaster, chaos and craziness.”

“Everybody’s been on Cloud 9,” Andrews said. “We had senior week and all kinds of distractions at school. Then we found out it was going to rain all weekend, so they moved the game to Thursday night, but we somehow put it all together and did pretty well. We struggled in the first half, but in the second half we came out and took care of business.”

The Wildcat defense set the tone early, as Westbrook Christian running back KaJuan Burt fumbled the ball on the game’s first offensive play. Sand Rock’s Chris McMahan scooped it up and gave the Wildcats a first down at the Warriors’ 25.

Sand Rock moved the ball to the 5 and faced a third-and-one, but Jake Thompson was tackled for a loss. That forced the Wildcats to settle for Justin Mackey’s 35-yard field goal, which put Sand Rock up 3-0.

The Warriors (4-5, 3-4) tied the game at 3-3 on William Catanzaro’s 29-yard field goal with 8:42 left in the half.

That set the stage for the pinball quarter by the Wildcats.

Sand Rock took the first possession of the second half and drove it 73 yards in six plays, capped off by a 40-yard touchdown run from Andy Andrews. Mackey’s extra point gave Sand Rock a 10-3 lead with 9:32 left in the third.

“We were running the ball pretty well,” Andrews said. “Our offensive line doesn’t get the credit they deserve a lot of times, but they make a lot of the holes I run in. They account for a lot of my yards. I ran the ball two or three times (on the drive), and a hole opened up with a crease and I busted through. It just kind of happened.”

After a Westbrook punt, Sand Rock scored again on Jake Thompson’s 5-yard run with 6:05 remaining in the quarter. Mackey connected on the extra point to increase the Wildcats’ lead to 17-3.

Thompson finished with 58 yards on 14 carries and a score. He knew the Wildcats had to get their ground game going, since passing was difficult for both teams.

“At halftime, we weren’t playing like we were supposed to,” Thompson said. “The third quarter we came out playing smash-mouth football, and that was the big change in the game.”

After Thompson’s touchdown, Sand Rock’s defense forced another Warrior punt and the Wildcats cashed it in again. This time, Andrews scored on a 3-yard touchdown run to put Sand Rock up 24-3.

The Warriors’ Birt lost another fumble on Westbrook’s ensuing possession, which was recovered by Sand Rock’s Wesley Pruitt at the Warriors’ 26. Four plays later, Mackey booted a 38-yard field goal to give Sand Rock a 27-3 early in the fourth quarter.

Westbrook finally got things going offensively midway through the fourth quarter. Quarterback Chase Saunders connected with Birt on a 33-yard touchdown pass with 4:39 remaining in the game. Saunders hit Tyrek Minson for the two-point conversion, making the score 27-11 in Sand Rock’s favor.

The Warriors scored again with 1:38 left in the game on a 22-yard pass from Saunders to Steven Daniels. Birt rushed in for the two-point conversion, making the score 27-19 Sand Rock.

The Wildcats ran out the clock on their ensuing possession for the final.

“When they took the second-half kickoff and scored, we knew we had to open it up a little bit,” Osborne said. “On a night like tonight, when it’s cold and windy, you have to some risks, but in the end, our guys played hard and didn’t quit. We’re a young group, and we were proud of how they responded after we got behind.”

Jacob Mayfield led Westbrook with 55 yards on 14 carries. Saunders completed 6-of-11 passes for 118 yards and two scores.

Mackey was 10-of-21 for 109 yards for the Wildcats. He also rushed for 20 yards on 10 carries.