Whitwell 12-0 after 45-7 rout of Lookout Valley

Football tile
Football tile

WHITWELL, Tenn. - Whitwell's football team tied the school record Friday night for wins in a season, moving to 12-0 with a dominant 45-7 home win over Lookout Valley in the Class 1A state playoffs.

The Tigers will host county rival South Pittsburg next week, with the Pirates dispatching Gordonsville 27-14. Whitwell won the the regular-season matchup.

The Tigers raced to a 16-0 lead in the first quarter behind a 3-yard run from Josh Wingo and a 65-yard pass from Warner Ashworth to Tanner Stewart. Hudson Petty converted a two-point conversion after the first score, and Ashworth punched one in after the second. The Tigers have outscored opponents 164-0 in first quarters this year.

Wingo had been out since the previous game against South Pittsburg with an injury but returned to provide 85 rushing yards on 11 carries to go with the touchdown.

"It was nice to have him back," Whitwell coach Randall Boldin said. "We wanted to get him in there to get some reps and see how he was feeling. He looked good."

The Tigers scored again early in the second quarter, as Ashworth tossed a pass to Thundur Roberts, who barreled over a defender on his way to a 13-yard touchdown. Ashworth flipped another pass to Jacob Roberts for two points.

The defense fed off the offense's energy and continually flooded the backfield of Lookout Valley (6-5). The Yellos Jackets' only score came with 2:46 to go in the first half on a 1-yard run by do-it-all quarterback Zane Howard on a drive heavily aided by Tigers penalties. Howard also had an interception on defense.

Whitwell held the visitors to 128 total yards, recovered a fumble and picked off a pass in the end zone.

"The kids played up all night," Boldin said. "They never played down. They were physical all game. We have to clean a couple of things up and had too many penalties but overall looked pretty good. Our defense was flying around."

Mr. Football semifinalist Petty scored on a 24-yard pass from Ashworth to close the first half with a 31-7 lead. Ashworth then scored his 15th rushing touchdown of the year in the third quarter and connected with Jaron Thames for 69 yards and the final touchdown in the fourth quarter.

"That's a great team, and they're going to do well," Lookout Valley coach David Dinger said. "They have so many weapons. This year was about making positive strides, and our kids played hard. We ran into a great team tonight."

Contact Idris Garcia at sports@timesfreepress.com.

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