Published: August 26, 2009 08:47 am      

Whippets open McCain era with shutout

While the finished product may have not exactly been a work of art, Kosciusko first-year coach Stan McCain wasn't about to throw back his first victory as head coach of the Whippets.

"I was proud of the kids as far as just sticking with it," McCain said. "We had a lot of adversity during the game, but it eventually worked out for us."

Despite going nearly 24 minutes without scoring a point, the hard-nosed Whippets managed to grind out a 15-0 win over visiting Class 6A Terry to hand the veteran McCain his first KHS victory.

"We didn't have any field position at all in the first half and it was all our doing," McCain said. "It was tough to get something going and when we did get opportunities we didn't take advantage of them.

"We had one touchdown called back and we had a blocked kick and got the ball down there close and didn't score," he said. "We just kept hurting ourselves."

Workhorse running back John Kern put Kosy on the scoreboard with just 15 seconds left in the first half when he broke free for a 35-yard touchdown run. Eddie Duncan hit Cary Dotson with a two-point conversion pass out of the swinging gate formation to put the Whippets up 8-0 at the half.

While McCain felt better after his team took the lead, he wasn't completely comfortable.

"I thought we were in control of the game, but when you play a team that has some athletes you have to be concerned," he said. "You just don't feel very good until you finally have the win."

Tre Boyd helped ease his coach's nerves just a little when he scored on a 9-yard run with 6:43 left in the third quarter. Eddie Duncan's point after put the winners up 15-0.

"We didn't do everything right, but we were proud of them," McCain said. "They never quit. They just kept at it."

While the Whippets only had four first downs in the first half, they piled up 11 in the second half and finished the night with a whopping 344 rushing yards on 46 carries.

Kosy's Jamie Riley rushed for 83 yards on just eight attempts, while Jeremy Williams had five carries for 47 yards and Earl Winters 37 yards on seven tries.

Next up for the Whippets is a road trip to 0-1 Yazoo County on Friday night. Kosy returns home on Sept. 4 to host Class 6A Grenada.