KILGORE AT WHITEHOUSE | Bulldogs recovered from physical opener vs. Carthage, in action tonight at Wildcat Stadium
WHITEHOUSE – Putting Carthage in the rearview mirror and cleaning up mistakes has been the focus this week as Kilgore preps for the Whitehouse Wildcats here at Wildcat Stadium tonight.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $9 for adults, $6 for students and can be purchased right here: Whitehouse Football vs. Kilgore.
Hear the game tonight through the call of Ragin’ Red Broadcasting – in its 44th season – with Doug Smith, Don Hedrick and Jason Smith on the call, on KDOK 105.3-FM, or on kdokradio.com. To go directly to the broadcast, come back here to ETBlitz.com, and click on the Kilgore helmet on the left side of the home page.
NETSN Live plans to stream the game live on its YouTube channel. When they set up the link, we’ll update this story.
The Wildcats and Ragin’ Red renewed a rivalry last year that had been dormant for years. And, in that game at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium in Kilgore, the Bulldogs won 27-7.
Prior to that, the teams split their last two meetings in the series with Whitehouse winning the final regular season game of 2010, 48-28, and Kilgore returning the favor in 2011, 64-26.
“We came out of the Carthage game healthy, other than our kids being pretty sore because it was such a physical game,” said Kilgore coach Clint Fuller, in his fifth season at KHS.
“Defensively, Ja’Kalen (Sheffield) and Isaiah (Watters) played really well,” Fuller said. “They made some big plays in the run game. Collectively, our entire defense played physical and tough and that’s something we like to see.”
Sheffield led with 16 tackles and a forced fumble, while Watters followed with 13 tackles, including two tackles for loss. Teammate La’Keyleon Graves joined them in double digit stops with 11.
Offensively, quarterback Kayson Brooks was 14-of-27 passing for 163 yards. Rayshaun Williams, out of the backfield, and Tyler Johnigan and Dre’ Sanders, each had three receptions.
Kilgore’s points came on a Watters’ 1-yard run in the first half and a 32-yard Eddie Jimenez field goal late in the third quarter.
“Right now, our focus is on us,” Fuller continued. “We need to clean up some first game mistakes from an execution standpoint. As a team, I believe we will take a step forward and be better than last week.”
Whitehouse opened its season with a decisive 47-15 road win against Dallas Woodrow Wilson, where the ’Cats quarterback Jojo Adams was 12-of-14 passing for 236 yards and four touchdowns and if that wasn’t enough, he added 110 yards and a rushing touchdowns on just six carries.
Two other backs, Zion Alexander and Za’Majeigh Mosley, combined for 187 yards and a touchdown. Alexander, a junior, was good for 96 yards on six carries out of the multiple spread offense, while Mosley, a senior, opened with 91 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries.
Adams’ primary receivers were Muhammad Diarra (4-122 yds, 3 touchdowns) and Ace Oliveras (3-65).
Defensively, Whitehouse linebacker Jayden Bell had two sacks and an interception in last week’s game and linebacker Kadavion Pickens, who had 102 tackles and 14 tackles for loss a year ago, had two hurries against Wilson.
After dropping its first two district games a year ago, Whitehouse won three of its last four 7-5A DII contests to reach the bi-district playoffs, where the Wildcats lost to Huntsville to finish the season with a 5-6 record.
After tonight, Kilgore’s run through the non-district gauntlet that’s one of the state’s most difficult schedules resumes with a home game against No. 8 Gilmer next Friday, Sept. 12, and then finishes with a road trip to Texarkana to face second-ranked Pleasant Grove on Sept. 19.
Even though the Bulldogs hosted PG last year, Sept. 19 will mark Fuller’s first return to Pleasant Grove since he served as the program’s defensive coordinator before becoming the head man at KHS.
