Whiteford comes back to defeat Sand Creek, set up showdown with Clinton

By DOUG DONNELLY

SAND CREEK – Two turnovers turned the tide in Friday’s Whiteford-Sand Creek football match-up. Fortunately for Bobcat fans, both were in favor of Whiteford.

An interception by Logan Murphy and a fumble recovery by Nick Marchant helped the Bobcats score touchdowns on back-to-back offensive possessions in the second quarter, keying a 48-21 Whiteford win. The victory moved the Bobcats to 7-0 on the season and set up a Tri-County Conference showdown next week against Clinton. Both teams are 5-0 in the TCC heading into the final home regular season game of the season for Whiteford.

The Aggies struck first Friday, taking the opening kickoff and marching 46 yards in nine plays, climaxed by a 1-yard touchdown by Alec Muck. The Bobcats went on a long drive of its own, but on a fourth-and-one from inside the Aggie 15-yard line Whiteford came up short, handing the ball back to Sand Creek.

The Aggies then took 11 plays to get into the Red Zone, but Murphy intercepted a Payton Woodard pass on a third-and-13 and returned the ball to the Sand Creek 48 yard-line. A holding penalty moved Whiteford back to its own 26 before quarterback Ty Eitniear connected with Bradyn Clark-Gilmore on a 74-yard touchdown pass. A Zack Bertz two-point conversion gave the Bobcats the lead with 9:11 left before halftime.

The one-point lead quickly turned into a 16-7 lead after Marchant recovered an Aggie fumble on the Whiteford kickoff, setting up Bertz for a short TD run. Eitniear would find Hunter Lake on a 48-yard scoring strike before halftime, giving Whiteford a 24-7 lead the break.

In the second half, Whiteford’s offense continued to roll, getting rushing touchdowns from Murphy, Bertz and Lake. Whiteford was good on all six of its two-point conversions.

Sand Creek added second-half touchdowns from Hunter Wiedyk and Woodard.

Murphy finished with 115 rushing yards for the Bobcats and added nine tackles on defense. Lake rushed for 58 yards on just six carries and Eitniear completed three passes for 135 yards. Sand Creek out-rushed Whiteford 272-212, but the Bobcats compiled more yards of total offense, 347-314.

DeShaun Williams and Treylan Hess each had 10 tackles for the Bobcat defense. Williams also had a 27-yard punt return when a Sand Creek punt hit the back of one of the Aggies and landed in his hands.

Muck was a workhorse for Sand Creek, carrying the ball 33 times for 157 yards. Woodard had 114 rushing yards for the Aggies (4-3, 3-2 in TCC).

With the win, Whiteford has a 25-game regular season win streak and 21-game overall win streak.

Whiteford 48, Sand Creek 21

TEAM STATISTICS
WSC
First downs-Plays13-3917-68
Rushes-yards34-212 62-272
Comp-Att-Int3-5-03-6-1
Passing yards13542
Fumbles-Lost2-14-1
Punts-Avg.0-03-11.0
Penalties-Yards7-6014-120

SCORE BY QUARTERS
Whiteford024168—48
Sand Creek7086—21

SCORING
S – Alec Muck 1 run (Oriol Puig kick), 8:06, 1st

W – Bradyn Clark-Gilmore 74 pass from Ty Eitniear (Zack Bertz run), 9:11, 2nd

W – Zack Bertz 3 run (Ty Eitniear run), 7:31, 2nd

W – Hunter Lake 48 pass from Ty Eitniear (Zack Bertz run), 5:12, 2nd

W – Logan Murphy 1 run (Ty Eitniear run), 8:41, 3rd

S – Hunter Wiedyk14 pass from Alec Muck (Alec Muck run), 5:33, 3rd

W – Zack Bertz 1 run (Zack Bertz run), 3:57, 3rd

S – Payton Woodard 3 run (run failed), 4:57, 4th

W – Hunter Lake 47 run (Zack Bertz pass from Ty Eitnear), 4:08, 4th

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Whiteford: Logan Murphy 17-115, Hunter Lake 6-58, Zack Bertz 4-21, D’Ondre Shaw 3-13, Ty Eitniear 4-5. Sand Creek: Alec Muck 33-157, Payton Woodard 19-114, Carson Scroggie 10-25.
PASSING — Whiteford: Ty Eitniear 3-5-0 135 yards. Sand Creek: Payton Woodard 2-5-1 28 yards. Alec Muck 1-1-0 14 yards.
RECEIVING— Whiteford: Bradyn Clark-Gilmore 1-74, Hunter Lake 2-61. Sand Creek: Carson Scroggie 1-17, Alec Muck 1-11, Hunter Wiedyk 1-14.