Wildcats advance to 2nd round with another comeback win

Photo/Jim Jackson Steven Hicks runs past the Sulphur Springs defense in Friday's 33-30 come-from-behind win for the Wildcats. With the bi-district championship, Whitehouse will now face West Mesquite at Mount Pleasant on Friday. Kick-off is at 7:30 p.m.

All season the Whitehouse Wildcats have made a habit out of second half comebacks. Well, last Friday night at Hanby Stadium in the Wildcats' bi-district match up with Sulphur Springs, Whitehouse took comeback wins to a new level.

Whitehouse scored three touchdowns in the final 5:32 of the game to claim a thrilling, perhaps improbable, 33-30 victory, which sent them into a second round match up tomorrow night versus West Mesquite who defeated Lake Dallas in the first round.

The bi-district match up pitted two of the state's top quarterbacks in Whitehouse's Brady Attaway and Sulphur Springs' Tyrik Rollison.

However, the night will be most remembered for the game changing plays by the Whitehouse defense and some clutch receptions late in the game that gave the Cats another week of post-season play.

Seth Cashion (11) and Aubrey Kennedy zoom in on the Sulphur Springs ball carrier in Friday's bidistrict win. Photo/Jim Jackson

Both offenses started the game slowly and then the Whitehouse special teams came up with the first of two crucial mistakes in the first quarter.

After forcing Sulphur Springs to punt on fourth down, Bart Henderson failed to pick up the loose punt as it rolled along the ground, and the visiting Wildcats from up north took full advantage on a 45-yard scoring drive to go up 7-0.

On the ensuing kickoff, Whitehouse failed to communicate on the short kick and Sulphur Springs again recovered on the Whitehouse 24.

The defense appeared to have forced a turnover on first down on the blitz by Seth Cashion, but the Cats were unable to recover the loose ball. That opportunity proved costly as Sulphur Springs struck on a 34-yard TD pass on third and 20 to jump to a 14-0 lead.

Lesley Perdue then got things going for the Cats on the ensuing kickoff with a good return to the Whitehouse 45. The drive ended with a crucial fourth down connection to Henderson on a 13-yard slant route from Attaway for the score, but the PAT was blocked and the Sulphur Springs' lead was 14-6.

The Whitehouse defense then bowed its neck as Juliann Broaddus picked up a big third down sack to force a punt. Whitehouse wisely used a timeout before the punt to force Sulphur Springs to kick into the wind before the end of the quarter, which resulted in great field position at the Sulphur Springs 28.

Attaway then went back to work hitting Asher Williams to the nine setting up first and goal. The drive then stalled as a missed snap moved the ball back to the 28, and Whitehouse failed to get in the end zone turning the ball over on downs.

Both teams' defense then settled in and played solid for the remainder of the second quarter before Rollison began to hurt Whitehouse with his scrambling ability and helped Sulphur Springs get to the Whitehouse eight setting up first and goal with 46 seconds in the half.

Sulphur Springs had to settle for a field goal as Broaddus came up big with consecutive sacks on second and third downs (he had a game high four), and the lead was now 17- 6 at the half. For many fans who came expecting to see offensive fireworks, the first half proved to be a well executed defensive game with the two Whitehouse turnovers leading to 14 points.

Whitehouse wasted little time trying to change the momentum of the game as they went deep on their first play of the second half with Attaway finding Perdue on a 60-yard completion to the Sulphur Springs 15.

The play became somewhat nullified as Attaway was intercepted two plays later and Sulphur Springs had the ball at their own 24. However, Cashion picked off Rollison on the ver y next play and Whitehouse got the ball back at the 28.

Whitehouse could not take advantage of the turnover and turned the ball over on four plays. The game then went back into a defensive struggle through most of the third quarter, and Whitehouse obtained possession after a punt on its on 38.

After a second down sack of Attaway, Sulphur Springs got its second interception of the night on the following play and returned it 40 yards for the score increasing its lead to 24-6 with 4:04 left in the third quarter.

Whitehouse needed to find a way to get the ball to its playmaker, Henderson, and he started the ensuing drive with a 20-yard gain on a reverse to get the ball to the Sulphur Springs 42.

Then, following a first down sack, Attaway hit Henderson on a quick screen, and he weaved his way down to the Sulphur Springs 26 for a first down. Facing a crucial fourth and 10, Attaway went to Henderson again on a first down pass to the 12.

The drive ended two plays later with an eight-yard TD pass to Henderson, but the twopoint try to Cashion was knocked away, and the lead was now 24-12 headed into the fourth period.

Whitehouse suffered a bigger blow on the two-point try as Henderson took a cheap shot in the end zone and suffered a mild concussion and had to go to the sidelines for most of the fourth quarter.

Whitehouse mounted an early drive in the fourth quarter, but a pass to Trey Metoyer along the Whitehouse sideline was ruled incomplete when it appeared that he had one foot down on the catch.

The call forced Whitehouse to punt and now the clock became the apparent enemy to Wildcat Nation. Sulphur Springs began their next drive on their own 27 and calmly moved into Whitehouse territory to the 32 with a first down and 5:32 remaining in the game.

Then, the great comeback began to happen. Several fans had left the game by this point only to learn as they arrived home of the next series of events. Just when things looked darkest for the maroon colored Wildcats, Rollison was picked off by freshman corner, Quincy Aldridge.

Aldridge, who had two interceptions in Whitehouse's home win over Sulphur Springs in week two of the season, returned the ball all the way down to the Sulphur Springs 23 giving Wildcat Nation a glimmer of hope.

Three downs later, the Cats were now facing a season ending fourth down play. However, Attaway hit Williams over the middle to the 11, and then two plays later, he found Williams again, this time for a 10-yard TD.

The PAT was missed, and Whitehouse now trailed 24-18 with 4:13 left and the glimmer of hope began to shine brighter.

Sulphur Springs started the next drive on their own 27, and on its second play of the short drive, safety Steven Hicks somehow wrestled away a pass from the intended receiver over the middle. After the officials convened, they awarded the ball over to Whitehouse at the 40 of Sulphur Springs.

Hicks, who verbally committed to the University of Colorado two weeks ago, was not ready to turn in his maroon and white for the gold and black of the Buffaloes just yet.

With time to score and run out the clock, Whitehouse went to the ground, and Cashion picked up four yards on first down. Then, Hicks came in at running back and bounced to the two.

From there, Chad Lewis got the call and the two-yard score, and Taylor Burns' PAT gave the Cats their first lead of the night at 25-24 with 3:11 left.

That 3:11 on the clock was way too much time as Rollison burned a depleted Whitehouse secondary on a five-play drive that only took off 36 seconds from the clock.

The two-point conversion failed as Whitehouse forced Rollison to fumble and now Sulphur Springs had the lead back at 30-25 with 2:34 left.

Whitehouse had to defend the drive without Hicks, who was being taped for an ankle injury on his long run, and starting linebacker, Taylor Sulser, who had a huge night but had to come out early in the fourth quarter with a knee injury.

On the ensuing kickoff, Lewis got a good return to the Whitehouse 45 to set Attaway up with 60 yards to score and 2:28 left on the clock to do it in. Many fans had seen this before all season, and the Cats were not about to end their playoff run in the first round.

On second down, Attaway hit Williams on an out route to the Sulphur Springs 45. Then Attaway followed with a 10-yard run on a draw play to the 35 for a first down. Two plays later, Williams faked the same out route and turned up the sidelines and hauled in Attaway's pass at the eight-yard line with just over a minute remaining.

Whitehouse then went back to the ground hammering Cashion on consecutive runs to the four setting up third and goal. Now faced with two plays left in its season, Whitehouse went to a two back formation with Hicks and Lewis and set Henderson out wide and Cody Brown in at the tackle position as an eligible receiver.

With the focus on Brown and Henderson, Hicks bounced the handoff out as he had previously done on his long run and found the end zone for the go ahead score. Cashion then bowled over for the two-point conversion.

Whitehouse then knocked away three desperation passes by Rollsion to end what may be the greatest game in Whitehouse history with an unbelievable 33-30 victory.

"I can't say enough about how these guys played tonight. We just refused to quit, and we took advantage of some big defensive plays in the fourth quarter and somehow came out on top tonight," stated Coach Randy McFarlin.

With the win, the Wildcats head into the second round of playoffs where they will face West Mesquite at Mount Pleasant Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Individual Statistics:

Rushing - Hicks 3-37-1, Henderson 2-17, Lewis 5-16-1, Ponce 4-11, Cashion 4-10

Receiving - Perdue 7-66, Williams 6-86-1, Henderson 6-65-2, Johnigan 2-11, Mayo 1-8

Passing - Attaway 22-46-236-3-2