Robertson County Connection
SPRINGFIELD WEATHER

Turnovers, fast start lead WH Heritage past Sycamore




The White House Heritage Patriots travel to East Nashville Friday night for their first-round matchup.FILE/Kenzie Marie Photography

The White House Heritage Patriots travel to East Nashville Friday night for their first-round matchup.FILE/Kenzie Marie Photography

After dropping their last two games, the White House Heritage Patriots got back in the win column Friday night, kicking off Region 6-3A play with a 42-16 win over Sycamore.

The Patriot defense forced four turnovers in a sloppy first half for Sycamore. Heritage used the takeaways to jump out to a 21-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.

“We’re always happy to come out with a win anytime, no matter who it is,” Heritage coach Stetson Dickerson said. “I think this game was a product of a great week of preparation for our guys. We put together three really good days of practice, and our run-through Thursday morning was really good too. That’s what we have to learn, to have some pride in our preparation and come out and be ready to play.”

Taye Francis made his presence felt on both sides of the ball early in the game. He intercepted a Sycamore pass on their opening drive and took it to the house for a 50-yard touchdown.

After another Sycamore fumble, Francis scored on offense at quarterback as he found Ty Minnick for a 23-yard pass.

Brandon Pennington drops back to pass.KENZI MARIE PHOTOGRAPHY

Brandon Pennington drops back to pass.KENZI MARIE PHOTOGRAPHY

The War Eagles’ disastrous start continued on their next drive as they coughed up their third consecutive turnover. A fumbled snap by the punter was recovered by Minnick in the endzone. The play gave the Patriots a three-score lead with 7:18 still remaining in the first quarter.

“We’ve been needing some big plays and turnovers on defense, and our guys were in the right spots and took advantage of those,” Dickerson said. “I’ve been waiting and waiting the past two weeks for our defense to help get us rolling. When your defense is scoring and your special teams are doing what they’re supposed to, that’s exciting for our kids to go out there and take advantage of those opportunities.”

White House Heritage continued to distance themselves in the second quarter. Francis added two more scores to his performance, the first a 12-yard pass to Brandor Rosa, and on the next drive a 17-yard run.

Taye Francis takes off with the ball.KENZI MARIE PHOTOGRAPHY

Taye Francis takes off with the ball.KENZI MARIE PHOTOGRAPHY

Just before the half, tailback Damian Dobak scored on a 4-yard run to give Heritage a 42-0 lead at the break and force a running clock in the third quarter.

With several of Heritage’s backups in the game during the second half, Sycamore was able to settle down and establish a few scoring drives.

A 10-play, 60-yard drive ended with a 1-yard touchdown by Jarrett Spurlock. After an onside kick recovery, Rayvon Green found the endzone with a 2-yard score of his own.

“We’ve done that every game this year, where the first half is just terrible for us and the second half, we’ve always been able to play.” Sycamore coach John Harrison said. “We’re still trying to build something here. It’s broken, and there’s a lot of internal stuff we have to fix. We keep getting kicked while we’re down. COVID and injuries have really killed us. We started the game with one starting offensive lineman and three freshmen that have never played before, so it’s tough to overcome that.”

The WH Heritage bandKENZI MARIE PHOTOGRAPHY

The WH Heritage bandKENZI MARIE PHOTOGRAPHY

Heritage improves to 3-2 overall after the win and 1-0 in region play. The Patriots host Fairview next week at home. Sycamore will continue to search for their first win of the season next Friday against White House.

Box Score 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q F

Sycamore 0 0 0 16 16

WH Heritage 21 21 0 0 42

Scoring plays

1Q WHH – Francis, 50-yard interception return. PAT good.

1Q WHH – Minnick, 23-yard pass from Francis. PAT good.

1Q WHH – Minnick, fumble recovery in end zone. PAT good.

2Q WHH – Rosa, 12-yard pass from Francis. PAT good.

2Q WHH – Francis, 17-yard run. PAT good.

2Q WHH – Dobak, 4-yard run. PAT good.

4Q S – Spurlock, 1-yard run. Two-point run good.

4Q S – Green, 2-yard run. Two-point run good.

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