By Dan Stillwell
CLEAR FORK — Travis Whitten was a marked man.
With Nick Lambert, the other half of Westside’s superb running back duo, out with an injury, Iaeger was free to concentrate on Whitten.
To no avail, ultimately.
Defying the extra coverage, Whitten ran wild, scoring three times from scrimmage and twice on kickoffs to key a 43-6 Renegades victory.
Whitten opened the game by returning Iaeger’s kickoff 80 yards.
The senior speedster added a 50-yard touchdown run later in the first quarter, a 27-yard TD in the second period and a 57-yarder to open the fourth quarter.
“Travis is a player. He does stuff you can’t teach,” coach Darren Thomas said. “He has that second gear.”
Whitten finished the game with 214 yards on 16 carries from scrimmage.
He came into the contest needing 170 yards to become the first Westside player to break the 2,000-yards in a season plateau.
“I love it, but I have to give all the credit to my line,” Whitten said. “They’ve blocked real good the whole year.”
But Whitten wasn’t all Iaeger had to contend with.
Justin Tilley, who moved from the line to the backfield, replacing Lambert, gained 85 yards on 11 carries.
“That was my first game in the backfield. I liked it pretty good,” Tilley said. “I got some yards for coach.”
Fullback Mike Harless ran for 31 yards and scored a fourth-quarter touchdown.
The 9-1 Renegades’ defense held Iaeger out of the end zone until backup running back Brandon Church raced in from four yards out with 1:30 left to play.
“Whitten is a great high school football player,” Cubs coach Mitchell Estep said. “Westside is big and physical up front and we’re a little small, but our kids played hard.”
Hard-running halfback Bradley Kelly finished with 66 yards on 16 carries for Iaeger (7-2). Landon Hurley added 48 yards.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, Nathan Ameling blocked a Iaeger punt and Tilley returned it 15 yards for a score.
Whitten’s last touchdown came on a fluke play following Church’s score.
Expecting an onside kick, the Renegades re-entered Whitten as an upback on its “hands team.”. Iaeger kicked away, but short, and Whitten broke loose 72 yards down the right sideline.
Tilley’s twin brother, Dustin, joined Lambert on the bench because of an injury. Linebacker Josh Blankenship was lost three weeks ago.
Lambert punted against the Cubs but played sparingly elsewhere.
“We’ve got two weeks to rest Nick’s knee up and Dustin will be back next week,” Thomas said. “We’ll be all right.”
Westside will be idle next week before entering the Class AA playoffs.
— E-mail: dstillwell@
register-herald.com
Westside 43, Iaeger 6
I (7-2) 0 0 0 6 — 6
W (9-1) 12 6 0 25 — 43
First Quarter
W: Travis Whitten 80 kickoff return (kick blocked), 11:47
W: Whitten 50 run (pass failed), 8:04
Second Quarter
W: Whitten 27 run (rush failed), 8:17
Fourth Quarter
W: Whitten 57 run (pass failed), 11:51
W: Justin Tilley 15 blocked punt return (kick failed), 9:37
W: Michael Harless 2 run (kick failed), 3:05
I: Brandon Church 4 run (rush failed), 1:30
W: Whitten 72 kick return (Harless kick) 1:17
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — I: Brandon Kelly 16-66, Cody Jackson 6 (-11), Landon Hurley 10-48, Trey Bailey 5-9, John Blankenship 6-31, Brandon Church 2-3-1, Dylan Blankenship 1-2, Trey Lockhart 1-27. W: Travis Whitten 16-214-3, Tilly 11-85, Harless 7-20-1, Dakota Toler 2-3.
PASSING — I: Jackson 3-10-1-41-0. W: Toler 1-5-0-(-4)-0.
RECEIVING — I: Trey Bailey 1-35, Hurley 1-5, Kelly 1-1. W: Whitten 1(-4).
TURNOVERS — I: none. W: Nathan Miller (Int), Nathan Ameling (punt blocked).
