Mar. 19—The Hobbton Lady Wildcats and the Midway Lady Raiders faced off on the pitch Friday evening with Hobbton walking away with a convincing 5-1 win, their second against Midway this season.

The Wildcats drew first blood on a penalty kick from 20 yards out by Denisee Jorge at the 32:43 mark. Minutes later, Jorge hit another penalty from about 35 yards out. With 20:24 left in the first half, Midway earned a goal to, keeping the Wildcats close at 2-1. At the 8:49 mark, McKayla Harris hit a high shot just under the crossbar into the net to keep the lead at two. Hobbton led going into halftime with the score at 3-1.

The Wildcats pulled away in the second half. At the 31:31 mark, Jorge earned the hat trick for the evening, putting Hobbton up by three. The Wildcats got one more goal in the second half to put the final nail in the Lady Raiders to take the win, 6-1.

Denisse Jorge Garcia had three goals and McKayla Harris one goal.

"It was a very spirited performance from the girls, commented Hobbton coach Eric McDonald. "There is known rivalry between Hobbton and Midway in sports, and the girls rose to the occasion. We are still not where we want to be, but we will continue to work hard with the aim of improving each game."

On Monday, they faced the Pender Patriots on the road, where they trounced them in a 9-0 shutout. It was never close, as the Wildcats unloaded five goals on the floundering team and never let up, going into the halftime break, they led, 5-0. Following the intermission, Hobbton would add another four goals to seal the deal and win by the mercy rule at 9-0.

The Wildcats are sitting at 6-1 as the season progresses, holding a six game streak leading into conference play. They were slated to face Rosewood on Tuesday then follow that game up hosting the Neuse Charter Cougars on Thursday.

Reach Anthony McConnaughey at [email protected], X @SampsonSports or on the Sampson Independent Facebook page