PREP FOOTBALL: McGavock too physical for Tullahoma in 34-13 Wildcats’ loss

Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2012 at 1:44 pm

McGavock High School manhandled an inexperienced Tullahoma squad and sailed to a 34-13 win over the Wildcats in the 2012 season-opener Friday night at Wilkins Stadium.

Tullahoma (0-1) played well in spurts, but never matched the consistency or the brute strength that the Raiders (1-0) maintained throughout much of the contest.

“We did some good things, but we just didn’t do enough of them consistently,” said Tullahoma head coach John Olive.

McGavock controlled the line of scrimmage of both sides of the ball, and behind the running of senior tailback Reggie Batey and senior quarterback Deanthony Patrick the Raiders built a 14-0 halftime lead.

Batey had 10 carries for 113 yards in the contest. He ran for a pair of touchdowns and hauled in a 59-yard pass from Patrick for another score. It was the long pass from Patrick to Batey with 1:26 left in the first half that set the tone for the rest of the contest.

Tullahoma had held the Raiders’ offense in check and looked to go into halftime down by just a single score, but Batey slipped through a crease in the THS defense on third-and-five and found open space right down the middle of the field.

The visitors took the momentum to the lockerroom and never let up.

Following a Tullahoma punt, McGavock scored on his opening drive of the third quarter to extend the lead to 20-0.

Tullahoma finally got on the board at the 3:52 mark of the third quarter on 9-yard run by senior quarterback Justin Brown.

McGavock quickly answered with a score of its own and then added another score just two players after Tullahoma fumbled an exchange on a handoff.

Trailing 34-6, Tullahoma added a late touchdown on a 13-yard pass from Brown to Van Williams, who found space in the corner of the end zone.

Tullahoma hosts Cookeville (0-1) in its second contest of the season. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday night. Cookeville lost its opener to Brentwood (1-0) 28-0.

In other District 8-AAA action on Friday night, Shelbyville Central thumped Coffee County Central 41-7; Franklin County beat Chattanooga Howard 35-16; Columbia rolled over Lawrence County 31-0; and Giles County blanked Lincoln County 35-0.

—By ROBERT HOLMAN, Sports Editor (tnsprted@lcs.net)

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