Long-time Sale Creek football coach Ron Cox was honored at halftime Friday night at the Tobin Davidson Stadium and Sports Complex as the field is now known as Ron Cox Field, but most of the celebrating was done by the visiting Whitwell Tigers.
With first place on the line in Region 3-A, the Tigers stayed there and remained unbeaten with the 20-8 victory.
Whitwell is now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in region play while Sale Creek drops to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in region play.
The Tigers didn’t waste any time taking charge of this one as they marched 64 yards in a dozen plays on their first possession, taking a 6-0 lead when quarterback Bennett McDougal scored on a keeper from the 2 with 5:54 left in the opening stanza.
An interception by Wyatt Davis on Sale Creek’s first possession gave the ball back to the Tigers at their own 36.
Following a five-yard false start penalty, Brandon Easterly hit a wide-open McDougal down the right side for a TD pass play that covered 69 yards. Easterly’s point-after run extended the lead to 14-0 with 2:27 still in the first quarter.
Whitwell coach Rocky Stephenson knew that Friday’s game would be a hard-hitting physical contest, but he also knew how important it would be for his team to take an early lead and make the Panthers play from behind.
“That was a hard-fought win as our guys just hung in there,” he said in a post-game television interview.
“I’m really proud of our defense as they played well. We did a lot of bending, but never broke. We still made a lot of mistakes and still have a long way to go, but we wanted to steal their hope with those early scores and it was nice to be able to do that. But we knew it would be a physical football game,” he concluded with a smile.
Sale Creek coach Jason Fitzgerald knows that the learning curve is often steep in high school football, but he also knows that his team just has to keep working hard, knowing that good things will eventually come their way.
“We just have to keep grinding,” he explained shortly after the game ended.
“I thought we fought hard the entire game, but we just need to learn how to win. We had two nice drives where we didn’t get anything, so we also have to learn how to finish.
“It’s all mental at this point, but I’m confident that we’ll get there. This was a really important region game for us, but I’m not sure we knew it, so I didn’t say a whole lot about it this week,” the veteran coach added with a smile.
Trailing 14-0 late in the opening quarter, Sale Creek got the ball at its own 39. They had an amazing drive where they moved down to the Whitwell 4, only to have what appeared to be a touchdown catch by Evan Higgins ruled incomplete.
That drive lasted 19 plays and erased 11 minutes, 28 seconds off the clock, but the Panthers had nothing to show for it.
The Panthers took the second-half kickoff where they started at their own 49 after a nice return by Alex Wolgast.
They moved down to the Whitwell 4 for the second time, only to be flagged for a personal foul before Khari Escobar’s second interception ended that drive.
Sale Creek got on the board shortly after that first long drive stalled when McDougal was tackled in the end zone by Daniel Hall and Higgins for a safety right before halftime.
Whitwell extended its lead to 20-2 with its final touchdown in the fourth quarter, this time when Easterly connected with McDougal on a 22-yard option pass with 6:53 to play.
The Panthers finally got on the board at the end when Escobar sneaked in from the 4 with 1:46 to play.
Despite three false start penalties on Whitwell in that last 106 seconds, the Tigers were able to finally run out the clock to claim their fifth straight win.
Whitwell finished with 267 total yards to just 213 for Sale Creek.
The Tigers piled up 152 yards rushing and another 115 through the air while Sale Creek also had 152 yards rushing and 61 passing.
McDougal was the rushing leader for Whitwell with 44 yards on 10 carries while Therion Mordecai gained 41 yards on five attempts.
McDougal completed three of four passes for 24 yards and he was also the leading receiver with 91 yards on two catches, both on TD throws from Easterly.
Escobar was Sale Creek’s leading rusher with 76 yards on 22 carries and the TD while Morgan finished with 38 yards on seven carries.
Lucas Mathis was the leading receiver for the Panthers with 28 yards on his one catch. Higgins caught two passes for another 21 yards.
Whitwell will be at home next week to entertain Copper Basin while Sale Creek will be back at home to host Grundy County.
WHITWELL 14 0 0 6 -- 20
SALE CREEK 0 2 0 6 -- 8
WHIT – Bennett McDougal 2 run (run failed), 5:54 left in first;
WHIT -- McDougal 69 pass from Brandon Easterly (Easterly run), 2:27 left in first;
SC – McDougal tackled in end zone for safety, 1:39 left in second;
WHIT – McDougal 22 pass from Easterly (run failed), 6:53 left in fourth;
SC – Khari Escobar 4 run (run failed), 1:46 left in fourth.
TEAM STATS: WHITWELL SALE CREEK
FIRST DOWNS 13 12
RUSHES-YARDS 30-152 41-152
PASSING YARDS 1 61
TOTAL YARDS 267 213
PASSES (COM-ATT-INT) 5-8-0 6-12-2
PENALTIES-YARDS 10-50 4-35
FUMBLES-LOST 1-0 0-0
PUNTS-AVERAGE 1-37.0 2-29.5
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:
WHITWELL RUSHING: Bennett McDougal 10 for 44 yards, 1 TD; Therion Mordecai 5 for 41; Wyatt Davis 8 for 36.
WHITWELL RECEIVING: Bennett McDougal 2 for 91 yards and two TDs; Garrett Miller 1 for 16.
WHITWELL PASSING: Bennett McDougal 3 of 4 for 24 yards; Brandon Easterly 2 of 4 for 91 yards and two TDs.
SALE CREEK RUSHING: Khari Escobar 22 for 76 yards and one TD; Ridge Morgan 7 for 38; Alex Wolgast 6 for 20.
SALE CREEK RECEIVING: Lucas Mathis 1 for 28; Evan Higgins 2 for 21; Ridge Morgan 1 for 8; Justin Griffin 2 for 6.
SALE CREEK PASSING: Khari Escobar 6 of 12 for 61 yards and two interceptions.
RECORDS: Whitwell 5-0 overall, 2-0 in 3-A; Sale Creek 3-2 overall, 1-1 in 3-A.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)