Palestine 40 (4A)Whitehouse 22 FINAL

[texasjeremy]

Nice start to the season for Palestine.

[texasjeremy]

PALESTINE - It took Palestine a while to get started, but it stole the momentum away from Whitehouse in a hurry.

Transfer Paul Kennedy reached pay dirt on three occasions and Palestine dominated the tempo over the final three quarters in a 40-22 victory over Whitehouse in front of a Wildcat Stadium crowd of about 4,000 in the first week of battles on the gridiron.

Kennedy, who made the move from cross-town school Westwood, last fall, scored on short runs of 3, 1 and 1 yards, the first of which came in between two Whitehouse touchdowns.

Whitehouse totaled just two first downs in the first half, or the first quarter for that matter, but both came in controlling fashion. Not quite seven minutes into the game, quarterback Chad Emmons scored on a 56-yard run, and running back Luke Shivers scampered for a 70-yard score not even four minutes later.

Both scoring drives lasted just one play, as Whitehouse capitalized on a miscue by Palestine's Leon Mickens, who coughed up the pigskin on a punt return to set up Emmons' TD. He faked a handoff to Jeremy Kennedy, who headed left, and Emmons broke right and went untouched to paydirt. After Paul Kennedy's first score, Shivers made his touchdown look quite easy, as he quickly broke through the line and ran unscathed into the end zone.

Going into the second quarter down 14-7, Palestine, a Class 3A Division I semifinalist last season, tacked on 26 unanswered points on the board before Whitehouse could finally answer back. Kennedy, who picked up 37 yards on 15 carries, scored twice in the second stanza and quarterback Devin Stephens once.

Emmons, who rushed for 89 yards on just five attempts, could not find similar success through the air. He completed just 3 of 10 passes and was picked off three times, twice by linebacker Ben Beckworth, who took his first pick 58 yards for Palestine's only TD in the third quarter. He connected once for a touchdown, a 29-yarder to Tyler Duvall, who stood wide open on the left side of the field and waltzed into the end zone for an easy score. By that time, however, it was too late, as Palestine allowed only one play over five yards the rest of the game.

Stephens paced Palestine's offense with 126 yards on 16 carries, while passing for another 98, including a 28-yard touchdown to Kevin Swanson late in the fourth quarter. Stephens dropped back on fourth-and-nine and hit a leaping Swanson on a fade route in the bottom-right corner of the end zone.

Whitehouse showed vast improvements from 2004, totaling 315 yards of offense - 133 in the first quarter on just seven plays. The second quarter was one to forget, as Whitehouse earned just one yard on 13 plays from scrimmage. Shivers, a junior, led his team's attack with 167 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, while also catching two passes for 18 yards. He registered more than 1,200 yard of offense as a sophomore.

Palestine 40, Whitehouse 22

At Wildcat Stadium, Palestine

Whitehouse 14 0 8 0 - 22

Palestine 7 19 7 7 - 40

First Quarter

WH - Chad Emmons 56 run (Clayton Alexander kick failed), 5:17

PAL - Paul Kennedy 3 run (John Gold kick), 1:49

WH - Luke Shivers 70 run (Jimmy Kennedy run), 1:29

Second Quarter

PAL - Paul Kennedy 1 run (pass failed), 8:07

PAL - Devin Stephens 3 run (pass failed), 4:44

PAL - Paul Kennedy 1 run (Gold kick), :13

Third Quarter

PAL - Ben Beckworth 58 interception return (Gold kick), 7:23

WH - Tyler Duvall 29 pass from Emmons (Emmons run), 1:04

Fourth Quarter

PAL - Kevin Swanson 28 pass from Stephens (Gold kick), 2:19

WH PAL

First Downs 8 18

Rushes-Yards 25-259 46-212

Passing Yards 56 98

Comp.-Att.-Int. 3-10-3 7-16-1

Return Yards 68 146

Punts-Avg. 6-30.5 4-40.7

Fumbles-Lost 3-1 6-1

Penalties-Yards 4-32 3-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Whitehouse, Luke Shivers, 13-167; Jimmy Kennedy, 7-3; Chad Emmons, 5-89. Palestine, Paul Kennedy, 15-37; Devin Stephens, 16-126; Trevlyn Reed, 12-59; D.J. Hall, 1-0; Jacobi Jackson, 2-(minus 10).

PASSING - Whitehouse, Emmons, 3-10-3-56. Palestine, Stephens, 7-16-1-98.

RECEIVING - Whitehouse, Jimmy Kennedy, 1-9; Shivers, 2-18; Tyler Duvall, 1-28. Palestine, Leon Mickens, 2-39; Kevin Swanson, 4-57; Jacobi Jackson, 1-2.

[texasjeremy]

Palestine defeats Whitehouse


8-27-05
By SCOTT TYLER
H-P Sports Editor


Coming into the season, the Palestine Wildcat coaching staff knew Devin Stephens could throw the ball, but they were unsure if he could run with it.

Stephens proved he could Friday night as he rushed for over 100 yards and Paul Kennedy, in his first game as a Wildcat, scored three touchdowns in Palestine's 40-22 season opener against Whitehouse at Wildcat Stadium.

"It is always great to open the season with a win," Palestine head coach Glen Tunstall said. "It was not real pretty but we will take it anyway we can get it."

Stephens, in his first game as the Wildcat varsity starting quarterback, rushed for 124 yards and one touchdown and threw for 97 yards and a score.

"Devin has really stepped up as one of our leaders," Palestine offensive coordinator Tommy Allison said. "They were taking away our running backs and left Devin open to run and he did a great job."


Palestine got off to a slow start as the Wildcats turned the ball over twice in the first five minutes of the game and Whitehouse capitalized when quarterback Chad Emmons faked the handoff and took off himself, outrunning the Palestine defense for a 56-yard score.

Palestine then drove the ball into Whitehouse territory but looked to be in trouble when the snap went over Stephens' head and he had to scramble 10 yards to pick up the ball. When Stephens got the ball, he scrambled away from a defender and found Kevin Swanson, who caught the ball behind the line of scrimmage but juked his way 15 yards, down to the Whitehouse 3-yard line.

Kennedy did the rest, scoring on a 3-yard run for the Wildcats' first touchdown of the season.

"It felt good to score that first touchdown," Kennedy said. "We did all right but we still have a whole bunch to work on."

Whitehouse quickly responded when Luke Shivers made a cut and broke free for a 70-yard touchdown run; after a two-point conversion run, Whitehouse led 14-7.

"I think there were some nerves in that first quarter," Tunstall said. "We had only four kids who played a lot last year so this was a new experience for a lot of them."

The Palestine defense made its adjustments after Whitehouse's two scores and shutout Whitehouse for the rest of the half.

"We were not properly keying and we were rushing a little bit too much," Palestine linebacker Ben Beckworth said of Palestine's first-quarter performance. "When everybody does their job, we do well."

After a Kennedy 1-yard touchdown got Palestine within one point, 14-13, on Palestine's next possession, Stephens scored on a 3-yard run to give Palestine the lead for good.

Palestine led 19-14 when it got the ball back with 2:38 to play in the first half as the Wildcats went into their two-minute drill. On a third-and-8 play, Stephens found Leon Mickens on a slant for 26 yards and a first down. Later in the series, on a third-and-2 play, Stephens, on a quarterback draw, picked up 6 yards to reach the 1-yard line.

Kennedy finished the drive, plunging into the end zone for the 1-yard score.

"It is a luxury to have a kid like Paul," Allison said. "Anytime you give him the ball he is going to get at least one yard."

On Whitehouse's opening drive of the second half, Whitehouse moved into Palestine territory on an 18-yard pass play to Shivers. However, two plays later with Emmons under pressure, he threw a pass up for grabs and Beckworth intercepted the pass.

"Our linebackers and defensive line had good pressure and forced him to make a throw," Beckworth said. "After I intercepted it, all I was thinking about was scoring."

And Beckworth did score, returning the interception 61 yards, which included a few juke moves to get away from would-be Whitehouse tacklers.

"I have been working on my agility," Beckworth, who had two interceptions in the game, said with a grin.

With the Wildcats leading 33-22, Palestine put the game away in the fourth quarter with a 6-minute, four-second drive that ended on a fourth down, 29-yard touchdown pass from Stephens to Swanson, who dove in the end zone for the catch.

"It was great production up front and Devin threw a perfect pass and Kevin did what we expect him to do, catch the ball when it is close," Allison said. "A big thing to take away from this game was that final drive because kids were hurting but they had heart to put this game away."

Notes: It is the fourth straight win for Palestine over Whitehouse. ...Palestine had several players suffer with leg cramps in the second half including Mickens, who did not play in the second half. ... Palestine's Billy Lewis intercepted a pass to end the first half. ... Palestine fumbled five times but only lost possession once. ...Shivers rushed for a game-high 164 yards.