By Kris Freeman
White House Football

Three scoring drives starting in Franklin-Simpson territory in the first quarter provided a 16-point early cushion, as White House dropped their neighbors from Kentucky, 31-13, at Dewey H. Whitson Stadium.

After falling 19-7 in the second week of last season, the Blue Devils avenged the loss with a stellar outing Friday night. It was the first win over the Wildcats since 1948, and only the second victory in 11 tries in the series.

Dustin Townsend completed 6-of-12 passes for 90 yards with two touchdowns, rushed for a one-yard score and punted twice for a 40-yard average to lead White House, while Justin West ran 21 times for 162 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore fullback Cody Allen carried seven times for 66 yards, as White House turned in 326 yards of total offense with 236 on the ground.

"I thought offensively we were able to move the football, but the defense created a short field and that was a big factor," said White House head coach Jeff Porter. "I think we had a different temperament tonight, and the kids responded somewhat this week because obviously we were very disappointed in our performance last week and wanted to try and get better."

White House (1-1) will carry its momentum next week on the road for the first time, facing arch-rival Portland in a non-region contest. The Panthers (2-0) beat White House, 38-14, in 2005 but come into the game with new head coach Mike Bever at the helm.

"It makes it easier to go to the practice field on Monday at 1-1," Porter said, "but we have our work cut out for us. Portland is undefeated and off to a good start and our young people know what a challenge this is going to be."

The challenge Friday night was improving against a quick Wildcat backfield, and the Blue Devils answered the bell. Lightning-quick quarterback Courtney Dalcourt completed just 3-of-10 passes for 23 yards and was held to 43 yards on 12 rushing attempts. Tailback Jereece Payne carried 21 times for 63 yards.

In week one against Page, White House allowed both the quarterback and tailback over 100 yards in the contest, but by the fourth quarter against Franklin-Simpson, had surrendered just 142 yards. The Wildcats mounted a late scoring drive and finished with 211 yards in the contest.

DeMarqus Payne recovered a Jereece Payne fumble, stripped by Michael Barrett, on the third play of the game and then Townsend hit Joe Mayhew on a nine-yard pass with the short field. Jake Hunter's kick made it 7-0 quickly.

Dalcourt was intercepted by Chad Neal, and the Blue Devils again scored fast, with Townsend sneaking in from one yard away. Hunter's kick failed after a procedure penalty, but the lead was 13-0. A 38-yard burst by Allen put the Devils on the goalline again after a punt, but the drive stalled and White House settled for a 26-yard field goal by Hunter.

The Wildcats had a 90-yard march in the second quarter after White House was knocking on the doorstep and West fumbled at the Wildcat 10. Franklin-Simpson drove 10 plays and J. Payne scored from three yards out to cut the lead to 16-6.

"The turnovers and wind advantage in the first quarter were big factors tonight, but I was disappointed we didn't get it in on second and goal at the one and settled for a field goal," Porter said. "And then we allowed them to stay in the game with a fumble and a big drive."

But the Blue Devils responded, marching to kick a 41-yard field goal into the wind before halftime, for a 19-6 edge, and then took the opening kickoff of the third quarter straight down the field for a touchdown and 25-6 advantage. This time it was a 28-yard touchdown catch by Matt Parker from Townsend, and Parker earlier added a 28-yard punt return. West got the final score of the night with a three-yard touchdown in the third quarter for a 31-6 edge.

Franklin-Simpson's Corey Jones plunged into the endzone to complete a 68-yard march for the visitors late in the fourth quarter for the final score of 31-13.

White House was solid in the game on fourth down, making both chances, but missed on all seven third down opportunities. White House also had seven penalties (to the Wildcats' none) and scored only three of four chances inside the red zone. White House also converted just one of four PATs, twice missing on two-point conversions.