Led by a quick start on offense and an opportunistic defense that forced six turnovers, Whitwell grabbed a firm hold on the No. 2 spot in the Region 3-1A standings with Friday’s 22-12 win at Lookout Valley.
In his first week as Whitwell’s starting quarterback, sophomore Bennett McDougal threw for three touchdowns on consecutive plays to spark the Tigers (7-1, 3-1) to a 22-point first quarter. McDougal connected with Therion Mordecai for scores of 13 and 40 yards, and he added a 30-yard touchdown completion to Colton Britton, who made a nice spin move to break away.
The second-year quarterback threw for 100 yards in the first half and had a 61-yard touchdown run called back while adding a sack and an interception defensively in the victory.
“We played a great first quarter offensively, but fell really flat after that,” Whitwell coach Rocky Stephenson said. “This week things felt a little off with us being on fall break and having lost our starting quarterback last week. We found a way to win and hold on, but we lacked a little energy for this being such a big region game.”
Lookout Valley (4-4, 1-2) held the visitors scoreless over the the final three quarters as Jackson Marsh added two interceptions to up his season total to seven, while Jacob Winchester was a force in the backfield and Rylan Collins added an interception.