The Battle of White Oak Mountain didn't prove to be much of a battle at all.
Aside from yardage, three other statistical categories easily illustrate Ooltewah's dominance over host East Hamilton, every bit as much as the 38-3 final score Friday night.
The Owls totaled 24 first downs, did not have a penalty and did not punt in the high school football game.
They did lose two fumbles - one a muffed punt that set up Jake McClure's 36-yard field goal 15 seconds before halftime for what turned out to be the Hurricanes' only points. It was 28-0 before that.
"The first half I was very pleased," Ooltewah coach Mac Bryan said. "We've got a lot of young ones out there playing, getting experience and improving every week. Now we've got to get ready to start region play."
As far as the yardage, it was every bit in favor of the Owls as all the other numbers. At halftime the Hurricanes had 14 carries for 14 yards. They ended up with 53 yards on 29 rushes.
When East Hamilton went to the air, quarterback Andrew Sturdivant was 7-of-11 for 37 yards.
"We did a good job of stopping their running game," Bryan said. "We had to. We knew that's what they wanted to do on offense."
After a three-and-out to start the game, Ooltewah marched 70 yards in nine plays for its first of five touchdowns. Quarterback Collin Thurman threw a flare pass out in the left flank to Tahj Cargle, who got an open-field block from receiver Kasaud Featherstone and went the rest of the way 31 yards for the score. Featherstone also had a scoring reception in the first quarter.
The first three plays of the drive were completions by Thurman, who was 11-for-11 for 120 yards in the first half. The next five were runs, then came the TD pass.
"We've been balanced this year," Bryan said. "We've got good running backs and a good offensive line. Collin Thurman did a real good job of controlling the offense. And our receivers can make plays out on the perimeter."
Thurman was 12-for-12 before throwing his first incompletion. He ended up 15-of-17 for 162 yards. Cargle was his top receiver with seven catches for 78 yards.
Ooltewah ran for a total of 183 yards. Sincere Quinn, whose 40-yard run early in the third quarter was the longest of the night, was the leading rusher with 82 yards on eight carries.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him at twitter.com@KelleySmiddie.