By Gary Gaddis/For Fort Payne Times-Journal
Dillon Reed passed for two touchdowns and ran for another Friday in Ider’s 27-18 victory over West End in the Patriots’ Class 2A, Region 7 opener in Walnut Grove.
The Patriots (0-2, 0-1) scored first when Dylan Gregory recovered a fumble in the end zone with 1:14 left in the first quarter. The hosts soon added a safety when a bad snap went out of the back of the Ider end zone.
The Hornets (1-1, 1-0) answered on Reed’s 36-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Collins.
Reed ran for a 2-yard touchdown on the final play of the first half, and Caleb Higdon’s two-point run gave Ider a 14-8 lead at halftime.
West End added another safety late in the third quarter, but Reed’s 17-yard scoring pass to Collins helped put the game away. Ider also got a late 4-yard touchdown run from Dylan Giles.
The Patriots scored late in the game on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Levi Weems to Rhett Lister.
Weems was 6-of-12 passing for 107 yards, while Lister caught four passes for 92 yards. Chase Blanton carried 14 times for 71 yards.
West End visits region foe and No. 8 Fyffe on Friday.