Big return turns tide against Whippets

By Austin Bishop

September 17, 2008 10:26 am

— Football coaches aren’t satisfied with losses, and Trey Rolison is a football coach so he wasn’t celebrating after his Whippets dropped a hard-fought 37-10 decision to arch-rival Louisville on Friday night.
But, he also saw some things he liked.
“I think I saw a lot more positives in this game and in the previous two,” Rolison said. “We still need to play a whole game though. We played a good first half against Northwest Ranking and a good one at Louisville and a good second half at Houston. We just need to put it together for a full game.”
Rolison also knows that his Whippets need to accelerate the learning curve as they had into Friday night’s key Region 4-4A road game against undefeated Neshoba Central.
“The season start Friday,” he said. “Our goal is to make the playoffs and this is our first division game. We are all 0-0 and this is the first one that really counts.”
The Whippets were heavy underdogs going into last Friday’s game against the Wildcats, who were ranked No. 1 in the state in MHSAA Class 3A.
But for the first 23 minutes Kosy gave the defending 3A champions all they could handle.
The Whippets led 10-7 with a minute to play in the first half and were in position to double their lead with a field goal. However the ball got free on the snap and after it squirted out from under one Whippet trying to recover it, Louisville’s Markese Triplett picked it up and raced 77 yards for the touchdown.
The ensuing extra point put the Wildcats up 14-10 at the half.
“I really kind of thought that was the game right there,” Rolison said. “We had them wondering what was happening, then they get that touchdown and take the lead just before the half.”
Louisville managed only a 28-yard field goal by Clayton Moore in the third quarter, but the visitors erupted for 20 fourth-quarter points to take the 27-point win.
“I think the game overall was a lot better than the score indicated.”
Senior quarterback Corvan Greer had a big game on the ground for the Whippets rushing for 114 yards on 19 plays.
“He’s a good player,” LHS head coach Brad Peterson said of Greer. “He gave us fits and has the ability to make the big plays.
LHS moved the ball well to open the game.
Moore hit Triplett with a 59-yard pass play to set up a 14-yard touchdown run by Fred Parker. Moore’s kick made it 7-0.
After Kosy cut it to 7-3 on a 25-yard field goal by Chris Duncan, LHS responded by driving down the field and moving the ball to the 1-yard line. However, the Wildcats fumbled the ball away and Tommy Lewis picked it up and raced 93 yards for the touchdown to take a 10-7 lead.
Louisville’s fourth-quarter run started with a blocked punt by Triplett that resulted in a 6-yard scoring run by Parker. Kincaid came up big for LHS with back-to-back sacks on Kosy’s next possession.
When LHS got the ball back Moore struck in a hurry, hitting Triplett with a 21-yard scoring pass to put the winners up 31-0. The last touchdown came on a 36-yard scoring run by reserve quarterback Chris Wraggs.
Moore hit on 9-of-12 passes for 168 yards, while Triplett had seven catches for 128 yards. Moore also rushed or 120 yards on 10 carries. Defensively Kincaid led the way with five sacks.
The loss dropped the Whippets to 1-2 on the season, going into league play.
After facing the resurgent 3-0 Rockets, Kosy plays host to Caledonia on Oct. 3, before visiting New Hope on Oct. 10. All three of those games are Region 4-4A contests in a key three-game run before facing Class 4A powers West Point and Noxubee County on back-to-back Friday nights.

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