White House Heritage’s Chance Anderson (4) celebrates with teammate Timmy Freel (13) after Freel’s punt return touchdown in the Patriots’ 21-8 win over Greenbrier Friday night.TOM BEESLEY
White House Heritage walked away from Greenbrier with a 21-8 win on Friday night.
If there was no scoreboard, it may have looked like the Bobcats were the better team. They moved the ball well all night but were stopped three times inside of the Patriots’ 30-yard line.
The Bobcats moved the ball down the field on their first two possessions but came away with no points as the Patriots defense held strong in critical moments all night.
Following an Izik Rector fumble, Heritage had great field position, starting inside the Greenbrier 30. The offense finally got moving as Malakhai Illaramendi carried the ball in for the first score of the game early in the second quarter.
The Bobcats were forced to punt after a three-and-out, and it allowed Heritage’s Timmy Freel to get going. Freel caught it around midfield and took off down the sideline for a punt return touchdown to give the Patriots a 14-0 halftime lead.
GHS finally got into the end zone early in the fourth quarter, as senior Kelby Steele scored a touchdown on the ground from 32 yards out. Stoney Smith ran the ball in for the two-point conversion.
The Bobcats had the ball with around eight minutes left, down by six, but they were unable to get anything going, punting the ball back to the Patriots. They drove down and scored quickly with a Will Wilson 11-yard touchdown run.
In the Greenbrier two-minute drill, Freel intercepted a Braxton Laney pass in the end zone to seal the win.
Freel is a senior who has spent a lot of time on the field during his time at Heritage. He starts on offense, defense and special teams, and had an impact on each Friday night. Head coach Stetson Dickerson was happy to see him make dynamic plays to help his team get the win.
“Well, to be quite honest, we don’t get him the ball enough,” Dickerson said. “He’s a kid that is electric. He can do good things with the football, and he works hard. The kids voted him as one of our captains. He’s a kid that, you know, you want him to get an opportunity to break out, and you hope you get him enough opportunities to make an impact on the game.
“We’re just really thankful that he had the opportunities, and not only that he had them, but that he took full advantage of them.”
Both teams entered the game needing a region 5-4A victory. The Patriots picked up their first after already losing to Springfield two weeks earlier.
Dickerson was pleased to get the first region win out of the way but knows his team has many more challenges ahead to make the playoffs.
“(Tonight’s win) is great,” Dickerson said. “Our region, from here on out, all the teams we play are capable of beating us, but we’re also capable of playing and beating anybody that’s left in our region. It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be a lot of what we saw tonight.”
Greenbrier dropped to 1-2, in danger of dropping out of the playoff race in the jam-packed region. Head coach John Elmore’s team has already matched last season’s overall win total of two games, but he knows each loss makes getting to the playoffs that much harder.
“Well, we’re improved over last year,” Elmore said. “I’m not going to lie; tonight’s a tough loss because it’s a region loss, and it puts us 1-2 in the region. Now, we put ourselves in a hole, and we’ve got to dig our way out of it.
“We’ve got Montgomery Central – the next region game – in two weeks, and that’s a huge, huge game for us. So we’ve got next week to try to get better and see what happens when we go to Montgomery Central.”
Greenbrier is scheduled to go to Fairview next week, but FHS has gone remote due to a COVID outbreak. That game could possibly be affected.
Heritage will travel to Portland to try to move to 2-1 in the region.
White House Heritage head coach Stetson Dickerson and senior quarterback Will Wilson discuss strategy in the final minutes of the Patriots’ first region win.TOM BEESLEY
TSSAA referee Jay Kritsch watches as he tosses the coin to see which team will start with the ball in the Region 5-4A matchup between Greenbrier and White House Heritage.TOM BEESLEY
Greenbrier running back Derek Taylor (10) gets a block from Gavin Rector (5) on White House Heritage linebacker Caden Raines (40) in the Bobcats’ 21-8 loss to the visiting Patriots Friday.TOM BEESLEY
Greenbrier running back Izik Rector (31) gets wrapped up by a White House Heritage defender early in the Bobcats’ 21-8 loss to the Patriots.TOM BEESLEY
White House Heritage defensive back Will Wilson (16) grabs the leg of Greenbrier running back Izik Rector (31) to make a tackle early Friday night.TOM BEESLEY
White House Heritage defensive back Chance Anderson (4) gets a pat on the head from teammate Micah Elliott (57) after Anderson recovered a Greenbrier fumble in the first half.TOM BEESLEY
White House Heritage receiver Timmy Freel (13) gets a block after catching a pass in the Patriots’ 21-8 win over county and region rival Greenbrier Friday.TOM BEESLEY
Greenbrier quarterback Braxton Laney (12) takes off running in the Bobcats’ 21-8 loss to White House Heritage Friday.TOM BEESLEY
White House Heritage running back Malakhai Illaramendi (22) pushes away Greenbrier defender Stoney Smith (13) during a second-half run in the Patriots’ 21-8 win over the Bobcats Friday.TOM BEESLEY
Greenbrier running back Kelby Steele (46) scores the Bobcats only touchdown in their 21-8 loss to White House Heritage Friday night.TOM BEESLEY
White House senior quarterback Will Wilson (16) avoids Greenbrier defender Nolan Carson (9) on his way to scoring the Patriots’ final points in their 21-8 win over the Bobcats Friday.TOM BEESLEY
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