SALEM — West Lincoln and Salem had to wait 3 days to make uptheir Region 4-1A contest that was postponed last Friday due toheavy flooding on Wednesday and Thursday. In a Monday night specialat the Swamp, the Wildcats got a pair of touchdowns from JamesBenjamin in the fourth quarterto defeat the Bears 22-7.

With the win by Salem, the Wildcats improve to 2-6 overall and1-4 in region play despite suffering 7 turnovers. West Lincoln,coached by Chris Calcote, fell to 2-6 and 0-4.

Salem has an open date before hosting Bogue Chitto Oct. 30. WestLincoln travels to region leader Sebastopol Friday night. Kickoffis set for 7 p.m.

Both teams combined for 11 turnovers, 8 fumbles and 3interceptions, in the game, as muddy, slippery field conditionsmade it nearly impossible to hold on to the football.

“We had several opportunities to score following Salemturnovers, but were unable to convert them into points,” said CoachCalcote. “We played hard, but we did not play well.”

West Lincoln used its second possession of the game to grab a7-0 lead with 9:09 left in the opening period. On first and 10 fromthe Bear 40, running back Calvin Kees dashed 60 yards to paydirt.Grant Rushing tacked on the PAT kick.

Salem, coached by Perry Coggin, took an 8-7 lead on the finalplay of the first half. Michael Simmons picked off a De Price passat the Wildcat 25 and promptly returned the ball 75 yards to theend zone. Justin Lewis’ pass to Ladarrius Bullock was good on the2-point conversion try.

After a scoreless third period, Benjamin tacked on his 2 scoreswithin a minute of each other late in the fourth. The diminutiveBenjamin led all runners in the game with 107 yards on 11rushes.

“It was a good defensive game,” said Coach Coggin following thevictory. “We were fortunate to win the game with seventurnovers.”

Coggin was referring to his ballclub’s 6 fumbles and 1interception; only giving up West Lincoln’s lone score on thenight.

For West Lincoln, Kees paced the Bears with 96 yards on 13carries. Price was 3 of 10, with 2 interceptions for 12 yards.Casey Lofton had 1 catch for 6 yards.

Defensively, Jeremy Buckley led the Bears with 7 tackles. TrayMoore, Casey Lofton, Garrett Rushing and Daniel Wallace had 6 stopsapiece. Wallace, Rushing, Tyler Case, Aaron King and Josh Reno werein on several sacks.

Lamarcus Lee had an interception for the Bears. Buckley, Lofton,Rushing, Lee, De Price and Deon Moore each had a fumblerecovery.