Cats roar into playoffs
Whitehouse shares title thanks to win over Nac

Photo/Jim Jackson Wildcat players take to the field Friday in their must-win game with Nacogdoches. The Cats prevailed, 27-12.

Sometimes the road traveled goes through many peaks and valleys, and this year's road through District 12-4A has been a long journey.

That journey came to an end last Friday at Wildcat Stadium, and the Whitehouse Wildcats along with all the fans of Wildcat Nation stood at the mountain top after a 27-12 slaying of the Nacogdoches Dragons.

This win earned the Wildcats a share of this year's district championship along with Kilgore.

Although Kilgore defeated the Wildcats in the district opener, the district minutes adopted by all schools in the district declare both teams to be co-district champs.

Kilgore will be the top seed in division two of the Class 4-A playoffs, and Whitehouse will be the second seed as a result of their loss to Kilgore head-to-head.

That leads to the new journey for this year's Wildcat team and that is the journey through the playoffs to be discussed later.

Photo/Jim Jackson Senior Bart Henderson attempts to break the grasp of the Nacogdoches defender to pick up more yardage for the Wildcats in Friday's win.

After playing the underdog role the week before in Marshall, Whitehouse played the fa- vorite at home against the Dragons who had lost the previous two weeks to Marshall and then on the road at Pine Tree while the Wildcats had won two consecutive tough road games at Henderson and Marshall.

The Wildcats came out on offense and looked ready to make an early statement as they drove down to the Dragon 34 behind a big third down pass from QB Brady Attaway to Matt Ponce who came free out of the backfield.

Attaway then hooked up with Asher Williams down to the Nacogdoches 6 to set up first and goal. From there, the drive stalled as Attaway could not connect with his top target, Bart Henderson, on two attempts in the end zone.

On third down, Attaway was forced out of the pocket by the Dragon rush and forced to throw on the run.

His pass was deflected and found the hands of a Dragon defender who returned the ball to the Nacogdoches 38. From there, the Dragon offense could not pick up a first down and had to punt.

Photo/Jim Jackson The Wildcat defense upends the Nacogdoches ball carrier in Friday's victory. With the win, Whitehouse sealed a playoff berth and second seeding and captured a share of the district title. The Wildcats play tomorrow night against Sulphur Springs at Mesquite Hamby Stadium, with kick off set for 7:30.

Nacogdoches got the ball back on its next possession and moved into Whitehouse territory, but a big hit by safety, Steven Hicks, forced a long fourth down and nine from the Wildcat 37.

The drive came to a screeching halt as Seth Cashion came through on a blitz for the sack on fourth down to turn the ball over on downs.

The Wildcat offense took advantage of the defensive stand as Attaway hit a big pass to Trey Johnigan down to the Dragon 21 before Chad Lewis got the call and got down to the two-yard line for first and goal.

From there, the Wildcats went to their jumbo running formation, and Cashion got the two-yard TD run behind solid blocking from the offensive line and fellow linebackers, Cody Brown and Taylor Sulser, along with Ponce. The score and the PAT by Taylor Burns gave the Cats the 7-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Nacogdoches looked poised to tie things up on their next drive, but Hicks stepped in front of a pass over the middle at the Whitehouse 15 and returned the pick all the way down to the Dragon 36.

From there, Ponce burst through the line down to the 20, but then Whitehouse found itself faced with a fourth down and 3 from the 13.

After talking things over during a timeout, the Whitehouse coaches sent the offense back out and the call worked as Attaway hit Cashion over the middle for the 13- yard score.

Cashion had come in out of the time out and lined up at the tight end position and broke free up the middle for the score. The PAT was no good, and the Cats' lead was now 13-0.

The defense continued to stand strong in the first half forcing Nacogdoches to punt again on its next possession. However, the Cats could not move the ball and Attaway did a pooch kick on fourth down, but Nacogdoches was called for a 15-yard personal foul. The Wildcats got the ball back for a first down at the Nacogdoches 48.

Whitehouse wasted little time taking advantage of the break as Attaway hit Henderson for a circus catch over the defender at the Dragon 5. From there, Cashion picked up his third score of the night on a one-yard run over the right side.

Whitehouse went for two and got it on a pass to Henderson in the back corner of the end zone for a 21-0 lead into the half.

The Dragons came out in the second half determined to get back in the game and took the second half kickoff and drove deep into Whitehouse territory. The Wildcat defense then stiffened and came up with a big stop on fourth and goal taking over at their own oneyard line.

The Wildcat offense could only manage one first down, and the Dragons got the punt with good field position at the Whitehouse 30. On the next play, the Dragons connected on a 30- yard TD pass and the lead was 21-6 after the PAT went wide right.

The Dragons then got back in the game on their next possession on a seven play scoring drive ended with a one-yard QB sneak, but the twopoint conversion failed when Cashion knocked down a pass in the flat.

The score cut the Whitehouse lead to 21-12 with 1:18 left in the third period.

The Whitehouse offense had managed little yardage in the second half but finally got on track on its next possession.

With Henderson drawing double and sometimes triple coverage, Attaway looked to Williams on the other side to move the ball. Williams was the recipient of a deep pass down the middle to get the ball into Dragon territory.

Then, facing a critical fourth down, Attaway hit Williams again close to the Wildcat sideline for a first down to the Nacogdoches 25. Williams then saved the best catch of the drive for his last as he made a juggling catch grabbing the ball while on his knees to set the Wildcats up with a first and goal from the five.

On the next play, Henderson got around the right side of the line on a sweep for the TD, but the PAT was no good and the Wildcat lead was now 27-12 with 9:33 left in the game.

That was all the Wildcat defense needed as C. J. Hallet picked off a pass to end one drive. Then, Hicks recovered a fumble on the Dragon's next possession to stop a drive.

Nacogdoches got the ball back with 3:44 left in the game at their nine-yard line. On third and 11, Julian Broaddus got a sack to force a fourth down, which the Dragons converted. That was the last first down of the night as two plays later, Brown picked off another pass over the middle to close things out.

As previously mentioned, the Wildcats finished the year as co-district champs and go into the 12- 4A playoffs with the second seed in division two.

The first game of the playoffs will be tomorrow night against Sulphur Springs at Mesquite Hamby Stadium with kick off set at 7:30 p.m.

Individual Statistics:

Rushing - Ponce 12-30, Lewis 2-16, Henderson 1-5-1, Cashion 3-6-2

Receiving - Williams 6-100, Henderson 3-49, Ponce 1-33, Johnigan 1-19, Cashion 1-13-1

Passing - Attaway 15-32-220-1-1