Jeffrey Coleman got East Hamilton’s offense off to a quick start and the Hurricanes’ defense smothered visiting Sequoyah in a 31-0 victory in the Region 3-4A opener for both schools on Friday night.
Coleman turned a pass from Nick Woods into a 48-yard first-quarter touchdown and returned a punt 40 yards for another score in the second period for the Hurricanes (2-1, 1-0). Coleman caught two passes for 57 yards. He also had a 23-yard punt return and intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown, but a personal foul penalty negated the play.
Running back David Whiteside, who rushed 16 times for 139 yards – an average of 8.7 yards per carry – and capped the Hurricanes’ scoring with 46-yard touchdown romp with 5:02 left in the game.
Woods hit paydirt on a 1-yard run to cap a 17-point second quarter and Jake McClure kicked a 38-yard field goal as the Hurricanes bounced back from an 18-15 loss to Cleveland.
Woods completed 13-of-20 passes for 189 yards, helping East Hamilton put up 333 yards of total offense.
Sequoyah (2-1) had 298 yards of offense, but could not turn any of that into points.
East Hamilton will be at rival Ooltewah next week. The Owls (2-1) hammered Clyde A. Erwin of North Carolina, 48-7, on Friday and has outscored its last two opponents, 94-10, after suffering a 9-5 loss to Riverdale in the season opener.
Sequoyah 0 0 0 0 – 0
East Hamilton 7 17 0 7 – 31
First Quarter
EH – Jeffrey Coleman 48 pass from Nick Woods (Jake McClure kick), 5:27
Second Quarter
EH – Coleman 40 punt return (McClure kick), 9:17
EH – FG McClure 38, 6:46
EH – Woods 1 run (McClure kick), 0:00
Fourth Quarter
EH – David Whiteside 46 run (McClure kick), 5:02
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)