GORDONSVILLE, Tenn. – For the second straight week of the playoffs Whitwell won in dominating fashion Friday, whipping host Gordonsville 49-7 in a Class 1A second-round playoff game.
The win advances the Tigers (11-1) to next week’s quarterfinals, where they will travel to South Pittsburg in a rematch of a game played earlier this season. The Pirates held on for a 21-14 win in the first meeting, but Whitwell threw an incompletion into the end zone as time was running out.
In the four games since that loss, Whitwell has outscored its opponents an average of 61-3, winning their first two playoff games by a combined 114-13. They scored on their first two possessions at Gordonsville, needing just six plays on each drive with Hudson Petty and Dawson Holloway scoring on 1-yard runs.
Gordonsville answered to cut the deficit to 14-7 with a 14-play, 82-yard drive, capped by a 21-yard scoring pass, and had a chance to even the score before halftime before getting stopped on fourth-and-2 at the Whitwell 33.
Whitwell recovered an onside kick to begin the second half, setting up Petty’s third scoring run of the night and opening the floodgates to a 28-point third quarter. The Tigers ran for 360 yards, led by Holloway’s nine carries for 95 yards, while Trace Condra added 86 on just five carries and Josh Wingo had 80 yards on nine carries. The Whitwell defense has held nine opponents to one score or less, including five shutouts.