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Patriots battle in tough opening night loss to West Creek




Jalen Witham carries the ball as Christian Yerta throws a blockCURTIS CASTLE

Jalen Witham carries the ball as Christian Yerta throws a blockCURTIS CASTLE

CLARKSVILLE- White House Heritage entered 2018 looking for their first win since 2016, but the Patriots will have to wait another week after falling to West Creek 39-34 on Friday night. Despite getting down 14-0 just four minutes into the game, the Patriots were able to rally and put themselves into position to win the game late. “I told them I was proud of the way they fought,” first year coach Stetson Dickerson said. “You look at the score and you see a tight game, but the game didn’t start out very well for us. Our kids had a lot of opportunity to quit, but they didn’t. Excited about us moving forward.” The Patriots had to climb out of a hole from the start as West Creek took the opening kick off 85-yards to the end zone for an early 6-0 lead. The Coyotes pushed the lead to 14 just three minutes later on a 38-yard run and added the 2-point conversion. The Patriots got on back right before the end of the opening quarter as senior Jalen Witham carried it in from 25-yards out. They’d get the score back to even on a 1-yard from Jackson Mapes with just over 3 minutes remaining in the half. The tie wouldn’t last for long, however, as West Creek broke a 49-yard run just 19 seconds later to give them back a 6-point lead, as the two sides went into the half at 20-14. The Patriot offense came out in the second half clicking on all cylinders as they drove it down the field in 3 and half minutes. After another Mapes touchdown, the point after gave Heritage their first lead of the night. Heritage again had trouble containing West Creek’s option attack on the ensuing drive as they broke off a 64-yard run to give the Coyotes a 26-21 advantage. The Patriots answered again with Mapes as he found the end zone a third time to give Heritage a 27-26 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Coyotes put together their own scoring drive to start the final frame, taking a 33-27 lead with 10 minutes remaining. The Patriots still wouldn’t go away though as they retook a 1-point advantage at 34-33 with four minutes left in the game on a 3-yard Dyllan Solis run. West Creek responded quickly again as they completed their only pass of the night from 13-yards out to give them a 39-34 lead with just 2 and half minutes remaining. The Patriots offense would be stuffed on their final drive as the Coyotes held on for the win. Led by the sophomore Mapes, who carried the ball 21 times for 130 yards to go with his three scores, the Patriots dominated time of possession in the game and racked up 387 yards on the ground. Senior Parker Deaton followed Mapes with 93 yards of his own on 16 carries. After struggling to move the ball in their jamboree with Jo Byrns, Dickerson was pleased with his offensive attack. “Seeing as how a week ago we put up zero in a half and had a tough time moving the ball, I was really encouraged,” Dickerson said. “Once we withstand that first wave, we got really physical up front and it opened up some other stuff.” Despite going winless in 2017, Dickerson believes his team could have rallied to open 2018 with a win, but the clock wasn’t on their side. “It says a lot about our kids. It says a lot about our coaches’ preparation and the way we’re gong to play. It’s tough to find enthusiasm when you’re down 14. Our job is to get to the fourth quarter and be in ball games. We just ran out of time.” Heritage will be on the road again this Friday night as they travel to Fairview to take on the Yellow Jackets at 7 p.m.

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