Not going to catch him — Westview’s Collins Alexander (front) finds plenty of room to run during the Chargers’ District 13-2A victory over Dyersburg on Friday night. Alexander ended with 119 all-purpose yards and two TDs in the win. Photo by Joey Gu | | | Defense and special teams had been carrying Westview through the early portion of the 2010 football season, but it was time for the offense Friday night at Graham Stadium in Martin.
Tanner Spencer, coming off a rough outing at Camden last week, ran for two touchdowns, threw for another and finished 11-15-0 passing for 149 yards to lead the Chargers to a 43-21 victory over Dyersburg.
“Tanner bounced back with a good game,” said Westview coach Don Coady after career victory No. 160. “He didn’t play well last week, and he was disappointed. But, he was on track tonight.”
Much of Spencer’s success had to be due to the Charger offensive line and their running attack, which tallied 262 rushing yards in the contest.
Abraham Haddad, who had seen limited action at tailback because of a hamstring injury, was healthy and proved it with 126 yards and a TD on 14 carries.
Fullback Wyatt Zarecor averaged 5.7 yards per carry, while Collins Alexander had a big night with 119 all-purpose yards and two TDs. Tevin Evans also had a breakout night with 60 return yards and two fumble recoveries.
It was Evans who recovered a fumble at the Charger 14-yard line that stopped a Trojan drive and kept Westview with a 15-8 lead in the second quarter and 1:39 to expand upon it.
And, the Chargers did just that.
Haddad broke open a sweep left for 31 yards to start the drive, Spencer hit Will Thompson for 12 yards on the next play, and then things got hairy for the hosts.
Facing fourth-and-six with 47.8 seconds left, Westview went to the draw play to Haddad, who ripped off 16 yards to the Trojan 28.
With the clock ticking, Spencer hit Seth Waterfield for 7 yards, Thompson for 5 and then Haddad on a flare for 15 yards to reach the DHS 1-yard line with 8.1 seconds left until halftime.
Spencer’s QB sneak was stuffed a half-yard short with a half-second remaining, but the Chargers were able to get the timeout called and sent Spencer across the goal line on a keeper to the left for paydirt as the first-half clock expired.
Landon Prather’s point-after kick, one of five successful PATs for him on the night, gave Westview a 22-8 edge at the break and momentum heading into the locker rooms.
“That was a great drive. It was good clock management by our kids and getting out of bounds when we needed to and able to use our timeouts if we needed to. I was happy we were able to do that,” Coady said.
Westview again converted a fourth-down play in the third stanza when Alexander broke loose for an 8-yard TD run on fourth-and-inches.
One series later, Alexander caught a bomb from Spencer down the left sideline for a 64-yard touchdown reception on the final play of the third quarter to put the Chargers in command, 36-8.
Two special teams miscues for Westview directly led to two TDs for Dyersburg in the final frame, but it was too little, too late as the Trojans dropped to 0-4 on the season.
Westview improves to 3-2 heading into homecoming festivities this week. The Chargers will host Trezevant at an earlier start time of 7 p.m., Friday, at Graham Stadium.
Homecoming was far from the Chargers’ minds in the early going against Dyersburg as the Trojans battled hard early and took an 8-7 lead at 8:35 of the second quarter on a 4-yard plunge by quarterback Hayden Alford and a two-point conversion dive by Trevor Caldwell.
But, Westview responded with a quick 2:11, 53-yard drive, thanks to a 32-yard kickoff return by Evans and capped by Spencer’s 21-yard scamper to paydirt at 6:17. Thompson made a leaping snare of Spencer’s pass for the two-point conversion to give Westview a 15-8 lead, an advantage they never relinquished.
Westview finished the contest with 411 yards of total offense with 262 coming on the ground and 149 yards behind the cannon arm of Spencer.
Dyersburg tallied 246 total yards of offense, with Caldwell leading the way with 85 yards and a TD on 20 carries. Alford was 2-6-0 passing for 23 yards, while adding 79 yards and a score rushing on 11 carries.
The Chargers move into a three-way tie at the top of the District 13-2A standings with Crockett County (4A), Ripley (4A) and Westview (3A) all sporting 3-0 district records.
• Editor’s note: Joey Guest is an associate editor of Pressbox1.com. He can be reached at 731-332-1164 or via e-mail at joeyguest1@yahoo.com. Dyersburg-Westview, Stats
Dyersburg 0 8 0 13 — 21
Westview 7 15 14 7 — 43
First Quarter
WHS — Abraham Haddad 4-yard run, (Landon Prather kick), 5:30.
Second Quarter
DHS — Hayden Alford 4-yard run, (Trevor Caldwell run), 8:35.
WHS — Tanner Spencer 21-yard run, (Will Thompson pass from Spencer), 6:17.
WHS — Spencer 1-yard run, (Prather kick), 0:00.
Third Quarter
WHS — Collins Alexander 8-yard run, (Prather kick), 3:52.
WHS — Alexander 64-yard pass from Spencer, (Prather kick), 0:00.
Fourth Quarter
DHS — Caldwell 2-yard run, (Seth Humphreys kick), 10:23.
WHS — Quan Williams 6-yard run, (Prather kick), 6:40.
DHS — Alford 3 run, 0:00.
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DHS WHS
First Downs 12 21
Rushes-yards 45-223 40-262
Passing yards 122 60
Comp-Att-Int 2-6-0 11-15-0
Punts 2-42 1-20
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-1
Penalties-yards 4-30 5-37
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Individual Statistics
Rushing — Dyersburg, Trevor Caldwell 20-85, Hayden Alford 11-79, Clay Chambers 1-15, Joe Marqueston 7-13, Brandon Boyd 2-13, Demite Warren 3-11, D.J. Walters 1-7; Westview, Abraham Haddad 12-126, Wyatt Zarecor 5-57, Collins Alexander 4-37, Tanner Spencer 6-35, Quan Williams 7-28, Desmond Johnson 2-11, Ryne Vinson 1-0, Team 1-(-32).
Passing — Dyersburg, Alford 2-6-0 — 23; Westview, Spencer 11-15-0 — 149.
Receiving — Dyersburg, Caldwell 1-15, Walden 1-8; Westview, Alexander 2-82, Will Thompson 5-39, Haddad 2-17, Seth Waterfield 1-7, Tevin Evans 1-4.
Records — Dyersburg 0-4 (0-2 District 13-2A), Westview 3-2 (2-0 District 13-2A).
Next Game — Dyersburg will host Raleigh-Egypt, while Westview will entertain Trezevant. Both games will kick off at 7 on Friday night. |
