RINGGOLD, Ga. - With a daunting schedule facing them in 2016, the Northwest Whitfield Bruins could ill afford to be left at the starting gate. It wasn't a problem, as it turned out.
With junior quarterback Luke Shiflett throwing for 266 yards and adding 106 on the ground, the Bruins rumbled into neighboring Ringgold and left their Class AAA opponent in shambles after a 49-24 victory.
Shiflett hit Will Blanchard on a 37-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the first half and threw a 5-yarder to Jay Jones late in the third quarter. He added a 3-yard touchdown run of his own for good measure.
As the Bruins prepare to face a dangerous South Atlanta team in their home opener, coach Josh Robinson had a right to feel a little relief.
"We've got a lot of skill on the offensive side of the ball," he admitted. "But we have eight new starters on defense. Tonight those guys played really well and really fast, and even though it caught up with us a little later on with some cramps, I was really pleased to see it."
The Bruins spread the weath while piling up 487 yards against the Tigers. Shiflett put the ball in the hands of his tailback, Dominique Sistrunk, eight times and he responded with 77 yards and a pair of first-quarter scores.
While the game Tigers defense twice turned back the relentless Bruins with turnovers, Northwest made it 21-0 early in the second quarter on Shiflett's scoring run. But for one of the few times Friday night, the home team answered as Ringgold's Ty Jones popped a run for a quick-strike 67-yard touchdown.
The Tigers' Jones was involved in most of their big plays Friday. He carried the ball four times for 100 yards and caught one pass for 12 yards and another as a two-point conversion. He had both of Ringgold's sacks and a hard-won interception early enough in the game where it seemed it would matter.
But the Bruins kept coming. Sebastian Orozco answered Jones' score with a 6-yard run of his own, and then Shiflett caught the defense flat-flooted when he hit Blanchard on a post pattern as the first-half horn sounded.
Northwest's receiving star of the night, however, was Jay Jones. The senior snagged nine passes for 164 yards, including the 5-yarder for his team's final score of the night.
"Those big plays helped us overcome several penalties, which was the biggest disappointment of the night," Robinson said.
Ringgold quarterback Cole Kibler, making his first varsity start, looked a little unsure early but rallied to hit Mac Brower with a pretty 27-yard touchdown on a corner route and went on to lead the Tigers with 102 rushing yards.
Ringgold has another home game this week against another neighboring AAAA rival, Heritage.
Contact David Jenkins at sports@timesfreepress.com.