MOBILE — UMS-Wright’s Chris Dukes rushed for 236 yards on 22 carries and scored five touchdowns to lead his team to a 43-12 victory over Andalusia on Friday night at Ervin S. Cooper Stadium in Mobile.

Dukes managed 15 carries in the first half and only added seven in the second half, when Brandon Lee rushed 72 yards on 10 carries and scored one touchdown.

Andalusia coach Brian Seymore said he could not disagree with the fact that UMS-Wright was the “best” team the Bulldogs have faced this year.

“I feel like that’s the best team we’ve played all year,” Seymore said. “They are a very talented football team. Chris Dukes — he’s the real deal. He’s the best back by far we’ve seen all year. I think they did a good job. Their kids are peaking at the right time of the year.”

UMS-Wright drew first blood 46 seconds into the first quarter. Dukes ran the ball in from 39 yards out and the extra point was good.

Andalusia went three-and-out on its first possession of the night.

UMS-Wright’s second possession was a fruitful one. Dukes helped carry the team 41 yards to the Andalusia 4-yard line, where he squeezed in for the score with 5:33 left to go in the first. The extra point was good to make it a 14-0 lead.

UMS-Wright’s defense held Andalusia to another three-and-out on the next possession.

Bragg Foshee, quarterback for UMS-Wright, handed the ball off to Dukes again from 5 yards out to give his team a three-touchdown lead with 54.4 seconds left in the first quarter.

Things kept getting worse for Andalusia at the start of the second quarter as Deion Akins threw an interception into the waiting arms of UMS-Wright’s Forbes Sirmon.

Andalusia’s defense held UMS-Wright to a punt, but couldn’t get anything done on its next offensive possession.

Seymore said the team played up to their potential.

“Our kids played well at times,” he said. “We just didn’t do good job of tackling. That’s the little things. There is no doubt that our kids will be ready for next week in Opp.

“They’ll be focused and they’ll be ready to play on Friday night,” he said. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do. We need to have a good week at practice and be really focused on the task at hand. We need to have one thing on our mind next week at Opp and that’s to pick up the victory.”

UMS-Wright added another eight points with less than three minutes left in the first half when Dukes ran the ball in the end zone from 12 yards out. He completed the drive by scoring the two-point conversion.

Andalusia managed to get on board early in the third quarter with the help of a 62-yard rush from Akins to the UMS-Wright 16-yard line.

The next five plays set up a 9-yard touchdown pass to O’Brien Curry with 8:54 left in the opening quarter of the second half. The extra point was no good.

Dukes scored his last touchdown of the night on his team’s next possession from 5 yards out. The extra point was good.

On Andalusia’s next possession, Akins was sacked and UMS-Wright’s Hunter Payne recovered the fumble to give his team possession with 3:32 left in the third.

After the fumble recovery, UMS-Wright’s Brandon Lee scored his lone touchdown from 12 yards out.

Andalusia scored its last six points of the night when T.K. Bullard rushed from the 1-yard line with 3:26 left in the game.

Akins led his team in rushing with 12 carries for 122 yards. He was 7-of-12 for 43 yards and one touchdown.

Bullard had 14 carries for 45 yards and one touchdown.

Andalusia will finish its regular season next Friday night at Opp.