Bruins spread ball in victory

By Marty Kirkland

Mike Falleur is asking several different players to set off the offensive fireworks for Northwest Whitfield’s football team this season.

The Bruins coach definitely had a few lighting the fuses Friday night.

Three different running backs had more than 75 yards rushing, six different receivers had a catch and both of the Bruins’ top two quarterbacks played effectively as Northwest beat Southeast 32-20 in the season opener for both teams at Bruin Stadium in Tunnel Hill.

With last year’s offensive workhorse, quarterback Dean Haynes, lost to graduation — he’s now at North Carolina State — the Bruins will need a few performers to fill the gap.

“We put the ball in his hands as much as we could,” Falleur said. “We feel like we’ve got several people this year that are really good athletes and we want to get it to as many of them as we can. We’re young and we kind of wanted to see who can do what. I was pleased.”

Meanwhile, Southeast quarterback Tanner McCutchen gave more than a hint about what kind of threat he’ll be for the Raiders in his senior season by rushing for 192 yards on 15 carries, including touchdown runs of 56, 10 and 64 yards.

“I’ve gotten a lot faster,” McCutchen said. “And I’m just trying to make a play myself instead of throw the ball every time.”

The Raiders feel comfortable having McCutchen in charge of the football — whether he’s passing or running.

“He’s worked so hard in the weight room and he’s just so strong pound-for-pound,” Southeast coach David Crane said. “You could see tonight, he’s a physical runner and he’s noticeably faster. We’ve got to make sure we don’t overdo it and keep him healthy, but at the same time, we’re trying to win ballgames.”

The Bruins controlled the football in the first half — they dominated time of possession at a nearly 2-to-1 margin — then separated themselves from the Raiders on the scoreboard in the third quarter, turning a 15-6 halftime lead into a 23-point edge a little more than halfway through that period with a 44-yard touchdown run by Jordan Darnell and a 12-yard scamper to the end zone by Mike Martin.

Darnell, a senior running back, also had an 11-yard touchdown catch with 7:47 to play in the first quarter — one of two touchdown passes by senior quarterback Chad Keeter, who also connected with Tyler Painter to give the Bruins a 15-0 lead early in the second quarter — and finished with 78 yards on seven carries, plus two catches for 15 yards.

“I give all the credit to the offensive linemen,” Darnell said. “We came in at halftime and said we needed to step up and do something because the defense was playing good. The linemen work their butts off.

“They made the hole and I just ran through it.”

Darnell’s first touchdown came on a redeeming drive for the offense after the Bruins turned the ball over on downs at the Southeast 26 on the game’s opening possession. McCutchen fumbled after a short run on the first play when the Raiders took over and Bruins defensive end Nermin Delic was there to hand the ball back to his teammates.

“I actually got double-teamed and I was kicked out, spinning my way out of it,” Delic said

“I saw the ball and I was going to pick it up and run with it, but I did the safe thing and just jumped on it.”

Martin (12 carries for 78 yards) and Lance Andrews (14 for 77), both senior running backs, also made big contributions to Northwest’s rushing total of 340 yards. At quarterback, junior Tyler Shepard was an efficient 6 of 7 for 66 yards.

Keeter, who finished with 56 yards on 4 of 6 passing, also hit Tyler Arnold for a two-point conversion pass after Darnell’s touchdown catch.

Painter made an impressive play on his touchdown catch, leaping over a Southeast defender for position, holding on to the ball despite the Raider’s presence, then stretching to break the plane at the end zone.

“He’s got pretty good hands,” Delic said. “He’s never done that before, obviously, but he’s got like a 33-inch vertical leap.”

McCutchen finished 12 of 19 passing for 78 yards, with Jeremy Bishop hauling in eight catches for 50 yards.

Northwest’s Oscar Solarzano converted a 24-yard field goal with 8:42 to play and made all three of his PATs in the game.

BOX SCORE: BRUINS 32, RAIDERS 20

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Southeast 0 6 6 8 — 20

Northwest 8 7 14 3 — 32

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

NOR — Jordan Darnell 11 pass from Chad Keeter (Tyler Arnold pass from Keeter), 7:47

Second Quarter

NOR — Tyler Painter 32 pass from Keeter (Oscar Solarzano kick), 8:27

SOU — Tanner McCutchen 56 run (run failed), 7:25

Third Quarter

NOR — Darnell 44 run (Solarzano kick), 9:26

NOR — Mike Martin 12 run (Solarzano kick), 4:02

SOU — McCutchen 10 run (kick failed), 1:28

Fourth Quarter

NOR — Solarzano 24 FG, 8:42

SOU — McCutchen 64 run (Jeremy Bishop pass from McCutchen), 2:03

YARDSTICK

SOU NOR

First Downs 10 22

Rushes-Yds. 26-224 54-340

Passing Yds. 78 122

Com.-Att.-Int. 12-19-0 10-13-0

Fumbles-Lost 3-2 1-0

Punts-Avg. 4-32.8 2-22.5

Penalties-Yds. 9-79 10-60

Turnovers 2 0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Southeast: Tanner McCutchen 15-192, Mickey Guerrero 7-33, Jeremy Bishop 1-3, Coty Burch 3-minus 4; Northwest: Jordan Darnell 7-78, Mike Martin 12-78, Lance Andrews 14-77, Nathan Sistrunk 6-52, Chad Keeter 5-33, Justin Andrews 2-19, Zach Sloan 2-7, Matt Allen 4-0, Tyler Shepard 2-minus 4.

PASSING — Southeast: McCutchen 12-19-0-78; Northwest: Shepard 6-7-0-66, Keeter 4-6-0-56.

RECEIVING — Southeast: Bishop 8-50, David Rayborn 4-28; Northwest: Keon Thomas 2-40, Tyler Painter 2-36, Lance Andrews 2-18, Jordan Darnell 2-15, Luke Woodason 1-7, Nermin Delic 1-6.