Cougars Football Deny Dunbar in Final Seconds.

A rainy Wednesday night at Herman E. Clark Stadium turned into a four-quarter fight between the Western Hills Cougars and Dunbar Wildcats.

Dunbar opened the district matchup with a 60-plus-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, but Western Hills answered before the first quarter ended.

Quarterback Tyler Johnston found D’Tyree Faulk on a short screen, and Faulk turned it into a 78-yard touchdown.

After Dunbar recovered an onside kick and stretched its lead to 13-6, the Cougars leaned on junior running back Tyrin Lewis. Lewis scored twice from inside the 5-yard line, helping Western Hills turn an early deficit into a 19-13 halftime lead.

Dunbar pulled even at 19 late in the third, but Ashton Richardson and Warren Carter both quickly changed the game again.

Richardson broke loose for a 56-yard touchdown while Carter “shaked and baked” down a 51-yard touchdown run, giving Western Hills a 31-19 advantage.

The Wildcats were not finished. Dunbar scored with 3:38 remaining, then stopped Western Hills on fourth down and drove to the Cougars’ 3-yard line in the closing seconds.

With seven seconds left, pressure from Gabriel Christian and Troivon Burns forced the Dunbar quarterback backward before an intentional-grounding penalty ended the comeback attempt with a 10-second runoff.

Western Hills escaped with a 31-25 win, its second straight victory and first district win of the season.

“Ugly win but we will take it,” Western Hills Head Coach and Co-Athletic Director Blake Moilan said afterward. “We have a lot to clean up, but we fought through some adversity and got the W!”

The Cougars improve to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in district play. Next up is another district matchup against Southwest at 7 p.m. on October 1.