By Scott Davis, Register Correspondent
Gainesville Daily Register
Whitesboro —
The Whitesboro Bearcats opened their season hosting the Decatur Eagles Friday. It should have been called the Tyler Hodges show, the quarterback for the Eagles as he would lead the Eagles in scoring and rushing en route to a 35-20 win for the Eagles.
The Bearcats are young and lack size and speed and have only nine seniors on varsity. The Cats would lose the opening toss and that would be preview of what was to come. The Eagles would just blaze past the Cats and with only 7:21 left in the first quarter would put their first seven points on the board.
Cameron Clark, Austin Purdom, and Jordan Gill would each put six on the board for the Cats.
The Cats would fail to convert all but one extra point attempt, even when given three attempts by the Eagles when they were called for consecutive penalties.
Clark would be the star of the game for the Cats as receiver, corner back and kicker.
Tyler Hodges would be the standout for the Eagles as not only their quarterback but in rushing yards.
The Eagles defense had no problem all night flushing Cats quarterback Jordon Gill from the pocket and putting Gill into the turf. Gill had little luck in passing yards and had more yards running the ball on quarterback sneaks.
Gill scored on a quarterback keeper, Austin Purdon would put up another six points on a run into the endzone, but the longest run for a touchdown as by Clark on an over-the-center pass from Gill.
Whitesboro running back Trey Eleazer is 6-2 and 202 pounds and bulled his way down the field when he carried the ball.
John Wood at 6-foot and 207 was a formidable force to bring down as well as he forced his way up the center with as many as 4 players on his back.
Decatur lost their composure several times and was called for three personal fouls on a dead ball and put 68 yards up on penalties to the Cats 50 yards in penalties.
Eddie Ruiz and Kolton Massick would lead the Cats on defense in tackles. Due to the size and speed advantage that the Eagles defense had over the Cats getting to the quarterback was no problem for the Eagle defensive line. The second half got underway with the Eagles concentrating on their running game and wearing down the Cats defense to the point that several key players would be on the sidelines with leg cramp issues.
Missed tackles by the Cat’s were gifts to the Eagles. The passing game of the Cats was there but the receptions weren’t.
The Cats are small in size, came up short in their kicking game, and are slow off the line. But district isn’t here yet and the team has time to improve.
