Kosciusko dominates stat line but falls short
The Kosciusko Whippets hit the road for the first time last Friday night to take on the Forest Bearcats (3-2) and came away with their third loss of the season, a 28-14 setback. Despite outgaining the Bearcats 381 to 173, the Whippets found themselves in an early 14-0 hole and were never able to climb out of it.
The Bearcats scored their first touchdown on a 19-yard Paul Hughes run to go up 7-0 with 5:58 remaining in the first quarter and scored again with 11:55 remaining in the second quarter on a two-yard run by Ranauldrick Murrell that put the Whippets in a 14-0 hole.
Kadarius Webster, who rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, scored on a 44-yard run, Kenny Ashmore kick, pushing the score to 14-7 with just 1:50 left in the half. Momentum appeared to be shifting for the Whippets at that moment, but the ensuing kickoff was returned 66 yards to the Kosy 10-yard line where Bearcat running back Payton Rogers ran it in with just 29 seconds left in the half. The Bearcats took a 21-7 lead into the intermission.
After a mostly defensive battle in the third quarter, the Bearcats found pay dirt for the last time when defensive back Debrockus Adams picked off a Clark Dean pass and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown pushing the Forest lead to 28-7 with 2:42 left in the third quarter.
The Whippets found the end zone for the last time when Dean hit Desmond Sandifer for a 27-yard touchdown with 11:51 left in the contest, cutting the Bearcat lead to 28-14, which would be the final margin for the Forest win.
“They were a physical football team that was very well coached and it was basically just a good old fashioned butt whooping,” said Whippet head coach Chad Peterson. “We are going to challenge the kids this week and get back in there and coach them up better and do a better job of what we do. We don’t need to get too lost in where we are at right now. As far as record goes, it’s never as bad as it seems and with division play about to start, we’ll dig out of it.”
The offensive leaders for the Whippets were Dean, who was 14-of-22 through the air for 172 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions; Stefan Harmon with 24 yards on six carries and 56 yards on four catches; Along with his 131 yards rushing, Banks caught three balls for 31 yards; Sandifer had four catches for 64 yards and a touchdown; Jaquan Williams had two catches for 14 yards and Zavier Miller had three runs for 12 yards and one catch for seven yards.
Defensively the Whippets were led by Clint Williams with eight tackles and two TFLs; Devin Foster with nine tackles and two TFLs; Ariyan Love with 10 tackles and a TFL; Kahare Haynes with eight tackles and Chris Robinson with five stops.
The Whippets host Itawamba AHS (5-0) at 7 p.m. this Friday night at Landrum Field.
