TUNNEL HILL, Ga. - Northwest Whitfield's Dominique Sistrunk exploited a game but exhausted Ringgold Tigers defense to score four of his five touchdowns in the second half Friday night as the Bruins opened the 2017 season with a 48-29 victory over their neighbors to the north.
Sistrunk, keeping it between the tackles for most of his 22 carries, finished the night with 257 yards and touchdown runs of 34, 1, 4, 44 and 75 yards. The last four came as consecutive scores after the Tigers shocked the home team with a Brayden Broome interception and a 30-yard touchdown pass from Cole Kibler to Pete Brower to open the third quarter.
That gave the Tigers a 29-22 lead after battling the Bruins to a 22-all standstill in the first half. But Kibler, who would finish the night with 488 yards passing unofficially, had subsequent scoring threats turned away by an interception and fourth-down end-zone breakup, respectively.
Kibler still ended the night with four touchdown passes, connecting with Dylan Wright (1 yard) and Brower (24 yards) early as the Tigers surprised Northwest by taking a 12-0 lead. But the Bruins' all-state quarterback, Luke Shiflett, brought his team back both through the air and with his own speedy feet.
Shiflett had touchdown runs of 8 and 80 yards in the first half.
Ringgold thought it had snared the halftime lead when Kibler hooked up with Ty Jones on a nifty screen pass to give the visitors a 22-19 lead with just 44 seconds left in the half. But a penalty on the extra point set up a short field and Northwest kicker Vicente Vaca tied the game from 37 yards out at the first half gun.
The Bruins received the second-half kick, but Broome's 60-yard return of Shiflett's only mistake of the night set up Brower's second TD reception of the game with 9:20 left in the third quarter. But two long, methodical Northwest drives - driven by Sistrunk - left Tigers defenders down with cramps six different times on the Bruins' way to the end zone.
Contact David Jenkins at sports@timesfreepress.com