Northwest Whitfield's Kyle Fleming tries to split the defense of Dade County's Garrett Moore (17) and Blake Lynn (40).TRENTON, Ga. - If Friday night's final nonregion tuneup was a test for the Northwest Whitfield Bruins, the grade likely would be incomplete.
Northwest (2-1) jumped out to a 25-0 lead at Dade County thanks to a dominating first-half defensive effort and Caleb Shiflett's three touchdown passes and eventually won 25-12, but the second half left coach Josh Robinson shaking his head.
The Class AA Wolverines (1-3) did the dominating in the final two quarters, holding Northwest to one first down and 8 total yards while piling up 228 and putting together three long drives.
"It was ugly, ugly," Robinson said. "Our defense played well the first half, and they didn't play too bad in the second half, but we can't give up those long drives. Now give Dade credit because that's what they do, and they picked it up in the second half."
The Bruins jumped to a quick 9-0 lead on Bryan Villa's impressive 48-yard field goal and a three-play drive set up and ended by Jamon Horne. He intercepted Stephen McCormick's pass at the 37 and two plays later caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from Shiflett. Early in the second quarter Dexter Stamper recovered a McCormick fumble at the 35, and Horne and Shiflett hooked up again on the next play for a 15-0 lead.
Stamper was at it again moments later when he blocked a punt, setting up the Northwest offense at the Dade 9, where two plays later Shiflett passed to Clay Phillips for a score from 3 yards out. The Bruins completed their strong defensive first half when Hunter McBrayer intercepted a pass and ran it back to the 13, where Villa added a field goal on the half's final play for the 25-0 lead.
The Wolverines put together a 17-play drive that ate up all but two minutes of the third quarter, but it ended on the Northwest 8 on downs. However, on the first play of the final quarter, Shiflett's pass was tipped and Dade's Teddy Cole intercepted it and ran it back from 9 yards out for a touchdown.
Dade, after forcing a quick punt, put together a 11-play, 77-yard drive as coach Bradley Warren's wing-T offense began noticeably wearing the Bruins down. After a 27-yard Zac Freeman run moved the ball deep in Northwest territory, Cole scored from 2 yards out with 4:40 left to make it 25-12. The Wolverines got it back one more time and McCormick's 49-yard pass to Freeman and Freeman's 11-yard run moved the ball inside the 20. However, a fumble ended the drive and the Bruins escaped.
"The bottom line is we've got to get better," Robinson said. "Mark it down, they're going to win a lot of games in their region. Coach [Bradley] Warren does a great job. It was a sloppy game, but a win is a win."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.