Another Rebel squad awaits Westview

Two long-time foes will meet Friday night as district rivals Westview and Obion Central face off for the 33rd time.
Westview (1-1) is coming off a big 26-7 win against McKenzie, while Obion Central (0-2, 0-1) took a tough 41-21 loss against Ripley.
This will be the Chargers’ first District 13AA game of the season, and they are looking to get off to a better start in 2012 district play than they did in 2011. Westview opened district play in 2011 against the Rebels and lost 33-17 thanks to a couple of bad breaks.
In last year’s game at Martin, the Rebels recovered a Charger fumble and ran it back 96 yards for a score early in the second quarter. With eight minutes remaining in the game, the Rebels scored on another big play to seal the victory.
But that was last year, and these two teams are bent on one thing: Controlling the ball and the clock. In the Rebels’ loss to Ripley last week, Central held the ball for 80 offensive plays and amassed 472 total yards of offense.
But the defense gave up more than 300 rushing yards for the second time this season.
That may play right into Westview’s hands as the Chargers are a run-first team.
The Chargers ran the ball 41 times for 273 yards against McKenzie. Quan Williams had 163 of those yards on just 16 carries. He also ran for two scores with being a 62-yard run, the longest since the 2008 season.
Ty Brown had a big defensive game for Westview last week with two caused fumbles, one fumble return for a 96-yard score — which was the first defensive touchdown for Westview since the ninth game of the 2010 season against Haywood County.
Brown also had one interception and two pass break-ups and finished with 127 return yards.
Brown was not alone with defensive heroics last week. Hunter Beal had 16 tackles, one caused fumble and one interception. Beau Kelly also had one interception and a fumble recovery.
The Chargers are a plus-three in turnover ratio this season.
The Rebels turned the ball over six times last week, two coming in the red zone. Ripley converted Central’s first three turnovers into touchdowns.
Rebel sophomore quarterback Blake Berner threw three interceptions but also threw for 283 yards and two touchdowns on 24-of-43 passing in just his second varsity start.
In contrast to Central’s quarterback play, Westview’s Matt Castleman went 2-of-5 for just five yards, but one of those completions went for a touchdown.
Westview has won two out of the last three meetings with Central. The last time Central won back-to-back meetings was in 1982, when Central had won its fourth consecutive game against Westview dating back to the 1979 season.
This week’s game marks the first time in school history Westview will play three games in the month of August.
Game time is set for 7:30 Friday night in Troy.
Dresden at McKenzie
A Lion team that transitioned well in the wake of several injuries will take on a McKenzie tream that struggled offensively in its season opener.
Battered by injuries in its offensive backield suffered in a season-opening 14-12 win over Westview, Dresden quickly bounced back with a backfield-by-committee that produced three 100-yard rushers in a 41-7 win over Gibson County.
Joey Caldwell, Devan Raymer and Torres Washington took the pressure off quarterback Tyler Hutcherson, who played in place of Davis Moran.
Caldwell was a leader on the defensive side as well, two stops behind the line of scrimmage included in his eight overall stops.
While the Rebels struggled against Westview last week, there were some highlights.
Ty McClain threw for 178 yards, with Austin Chapman pulling in six receptions for 51 yards.
Hunter Lowe rushed 15 times for 55 yards and McKenzie’s only touchdown while also posting five tackles, including two  for a loss on defense.
Grant Lowrance topped the Rebs with 10 tackles, two behind the line.
The other two Weakley County opponents, Lake County and West Carroll, bounced back in big ways with wins last week. Published in The WCP 8.30.12

Print