Chargers back on track after rolling over Rebs

By ALLISON JONES
Special To The Press
Fifteen years.
That’s how long it’s been since Westview had last beaten McKenzie on its home turf in Martin. On Friday night at Hardy Graham Stadium, though, that’s exactly what happened.
The Chargers got on the board first and never looked back, going on to beat the Rebels 26-7.
“Anytime you can get a win over a quality program like McKenzie, that’s a good feat for our kids,” said Charger head coach Don Coady. “It’s always a good, close, competitive game, and this one was, too.”
Senior Quan Williams led the Charger offense with 176 of the 273 total rushing yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns, including a 62-yard run on the first play from scrimmage of the second half.
“Quan had a great game tonight,” said Coady. “McKenzie made some good defensive adjustments in the first half to take away some of the things we had success with last week, and we were able to come back and counter-adjust at halftime and, fortunately, it worked well for us.”
On paper, it seemed McKenzie had a slight edge with 277 yards of total offense, 176 in the air. But turnovers plagued the Rebel offense, leading to two Charger touchdowns.
Whenever the Rebels looked like they were going to put a comeback together, the Westview defense came up with a big play.
Senior Hunter Moore gave the Chargers the lead in the opening seconds of the second quarter on a 9-yard touchdown run, which seemed to wake up the Rebel offense.
After being held to no first downs in the first quarter, the Rebels started putting a drive together in the second quarter, working deep into Charger territory.
But the Chargers were able to strip the ball from Junior Chavez on the 4-yard line, where junior Ty Brown scooped it up and went 96 yards for a Westview touchdown.The Chargers carried that 14-0 lead into the half.
The Rebels found new life in the fourth quarter after a big defensive play of their own when Noah Lowrance intercepted Ryne Vinson in the opening minutes of the quarter.
Quarterback Ty McClain also seemed to find his rhythm in the second half, going 14-for-26 for 156 yards, including completing five straight passes to lead the Rebel offense on their biggest drive of the game, capped off with a 2-yard touchdown carry by Hunter Lowe.
The Rebels threatened in each of their following two possessions, but as it had the whole game, the Charger defense came up with a couple of big plays.
Juniors Beau Kelly and Ty Brown came up with a pair of picks, crushing any Rebel thoughts of a comeback.   
“They had something going (in the fourth quarter) with their passing game, and we were struggling to get them covered,” said Coady. “Then (Kelly and Brown) come up with interceptions, stopping drives deep in their territory that gave us a chance to finish out the game.”
Williams would account for the final blow with a 3-yard run in the final seconds of the game to secure the Chargers’ victory.   
Next up for Westview will be Obion County Central. Even though Coady knows from experience how important the first district game can be, he has confidence that despite being young, his team has what it takes to come out with the victory.
“I really like our team. They play with a lot of heart and they go out there and battle,” said Coady. “As long as they keep giving us this kind of effort, we’re going to correct the mistakes throughout the year, and I think by the end of the year we have a chance to have a good football team.” Published in The WCP 8.28.12

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