Westmoreland drops second straight

WHITE HOUSE – In a game marred by untimely penalties costly turnovers and unforced errors, it took a batted-down pass in the end zone by junior defensive back Branson Kramm to secure an 18-12 victory for White House Heritage over visiting Westmoreland on Friday night.

The Eagles (3-2 overall, 1-1 in District 9-AA) were coming in after their first loss of the season but welcoming back senior standout Brad Evans for the first time in three games.

The Patriots (3-1, 1-0) were opening district play after a tough loss to Spring Hill.

Evans, the 2013 Sumner County Defensive Player of the Year, played primarily on defense but had a few offensive plays designed for him.

The first drives for both teams began well, with White House Heritage producing an 11-play, 39-yard drive that ended with a missed field goal by junior placekicker Trent Burian.

“We had a good little drive to start the game up, stalled out down here and then they did because of penalties,” White House Heritage head coach Pat Brown said. “As the game went on, the mistakes began to even out.”

The Eagles responded by driving the ball down to the Patriot 34 before 2013 9-AA All-District defensive back Thad Baker intercepted a Justice Graves pass and returned it 75 yards for a score, only to see it wiped off the board by a holding call.

It was a foreshadowing of things to come.

The Patriots began the scoring on the next series when Baker intercepted a pass in the flat, crossed the field and raced 89 yards for a score.

The ensuing Burion kick made it 7-0.

“He picked (the first one off), and it came back.” Brown said. “Then, the second one I thought he was out of bounds, but he just kept running and bobbing and weaving. That was a big turning point in the game.”

Baker added, “It really wasn’t me. I can’t take the credit. It was really for my team. If it wasn’t for their blocking, I wouldn’t have got into the end zone. They read their keys, and I was just there to make the play.”

Westmoreland answered right back, marching 80 yards in 11 plays.

The Eagles stayed on the ground, running almost exclusively with junior fullback Dylan Todd before Graves found senior running back Chance Hall open over the middle for a 16-yard score.

Senior placekicker Jordan Holmes’ kick missed left, leaving the host squad in front with 43.1 seconds left in the half.

Westmoreland came out driving in the second half, but a 15-yard face mask penalty cut the drive short and forced a punt.

However, the Eagles caught a break when the short punt nudged a Patriot foot and was recovered by sophomore Lucas James at the White House Heritage 19 yard line.

Two plays later, Todd had a 6-yard touchdown run, but his two-point conversion run was negated by a holding penalty.

Graves’ ensuing pass attempt was no good, and the Eagles led 12-7.

J.T. Smith took the ensuing kickoff into Eagle territory, where Burian kicked a 33-yard field goal to cut the lead to two points.

“The field goal was a big play,” Brown said. “We were down, and it was big to get points out of that drive.”

The Patriot defense began to clamp down on the Westmoreland running game and force punts on the next two drives.

Smith closed out the scoring out with an 11-yard scamper.

Senior quarterback Hunter Reyes found Chance Harp in the end zone for the two-point conversion.

“We were really ready after last week (a 41-7 loss to visiting Spring Hill),” Smith said. “We just needed to run hard and play good defense.”

Westmoreland’s next drive ended with a turnover on downs, leaving the Patriots with a drive starting on the Eagle 42.

After using up the clock on several runs, the Patriots attempted a pass on third-and-7 at the Eagle 25, which was picked off by Westmoreland and almost returned for a score.

Six plays later, Kramm would secure the Patriot victory in the end zone.

Following the game, Westmoreland head coach Steve Harris was quick to praise the Patriot effort while expressing disappointment with his own squad.

”Well, we are not a good football team right now,” Harris said. “I warned them that White House Heritage has a fine football team, and we had a lot of distractions during the week, various things we had to deal with. They come out tonight and wanted the football game a little more than we did, and they were rewarded with the victory.”

Brown said, “For our school history, we are so young. There’s a few (victories) that we keep up with, and this might just have surpassed all three.”

WHH –Thad Baker 89 interception return. Trent Burian kick. W – Chance Hall 16 pass from Justice Graves. Kick failed. W – Dylan Todd 6 run. Pass failed. WHH – Burian 33 field goal. WHH – J.T. Smith 11 run. Chance Harp pass from Hunter Reyes.

RUSHING

Westmoreland – Dylan Todd 22-154, Justice Graves 7-35, Bayle Kirk 2-17, Darrin Akins 8-14, Brad Evans 2-4.

White House Heritage – J.T. Smith 13-66, Hunter Reyes 10-46, Kyle Fuhrer 9-33, Ethan Risden 2-10.

PASSING

Westmoreland – Justice Graves 9-23-2-85.

White House Heritage – Hunter Reyes 3-9-0-67.

RECEIVING

Westmoreland – Michael Evans 4-44, Chance Hall 3-34, Brad Evans 1-5, Darrin Akins 1-2.

White House Heritage – Ethan Risden 3-67.