Friday Night Lights - West vs. William Blount

The game I wanted to go to this week was on Thursday at Bearden where the Bulldogs played Maryville. I have a small group bible study on Thursday nights so I had to miss this one. I get to watch Bearden play Farragut next week in a rivalry game that is one of the fiercest in Knoxville. This week however, I decided to travel about three minutes down the road from my apartment to West High School where the Rebels were taking on the William Blount Governors.

If Anderson County has the best looking away jerseys, then West has the best home. They were a mix of the new Indiana jerseys and Kentucky's shirt designs before the current model. I like to think I know quite a bit about jerseys and things of that nature, and so far these two schools know what's up.

These pants.

These shirts, minus the white filler between the silver piping running down the underarm.

The game started with William Blount getting the ball and on third down a pass to Jesse Crisp for a first down, Crisp fumbled before he was tackled and the West Rebels were in business on the Governor 31 yard line. During the West drive, which ended with a 52 yard field goal attempt that was wide right but would have been good from 65, the PA announcer said they had found some keys for a black Toyota. This was the third time in four weeks I have almost had a heart attack when the first words were black Toyota, only to be relieved with the last word was not Tacoma.

I have never seen as many penalties in a single game as were committed tonight. In the 1st quarter West and William Blount combined to commit seven. In the 2nd there were four, and three in the 3rd and 4th quarters. You can do the math to see how many total, but whatever the answer, it's way too many. A William Blount penalty wiped away a first down and forced a punt. After the Governor punter netted about an 8 yard punt, I got to thinking. I have seen maybe one punter all year that is just decent. All the other high school punters are TERRIBLE. Which makes me wonder how hard is actually is to become the #1 ranked punter in a recruiting class.

West missed a chance to score late in the 1st when Ivan Freeman fumbled on the one yard line. William Blount again went three and out again however, and this time a penalty one West on the punt return forced the Rebels to start on their own side of the 50 for the first time all night to start the 2nd quarter. The West drive ended when Coty Willocks picked off a pass. William Blount fumbled a handoff however, and this time West was able to capitalize. A swing pass to Freeman that went for 44 yards set up a 30 yard pass from Christian Francis to Antonio Stinson for a touchdown to put the rebels up 7-0. West got the ball back and as the Rebels tried to run the rest of the clock out at the end of the first half, William Blount called a timeout with about a second left. Only problem was West had already began running off the field. It was funny watching the team run back out and try to get lined up to run the last play of the half.

While West was running back out onto the field for the last play of the half, I was regretting my decision to wear flip flops as my toes were going numb.

Late in the third quarter West went for it on 4th and 3 from the William Blount 16 yard line. My mind went back to when West attempted a 52 yard field goal on 4th and one early in the 1st quarter. Why would you attempt that kick, but not go for the points now with what would be a 33 yard attempt? West didn't convert and William Blount was able to drive and eventually score on a Zach Witt scramble. The extra point was blocked however and West was able to stay on top 7-6. It didn't take long for West to extend their lead though. After the West offense went three and out, William Blount began to drive the ball again. West corner back Patrick Bardsley picked off a pass and would have returned it for six points, but a block in the back call took six points off the board. Ivan Freeman was able to score on a short run though and West was able to go up 14-6 with about four minutes remaining.

Just when it looked like William Blount was finished, Crisp connected with Hunter Saunders who was wide open on a post pattern. Saunders was tackled at the West 5 and with 21 seconds remaining, Greg Cook was able to put the Governors within two points of drawing even with West. All William Blount had to do was convert the 2 point conversion and play for overtime. Crisp called his own number on the 2 point conversion attempt and was stopped. The onside kick was recovered by West and the Rebels went into the victory formation to finish off the Governors 14-12. Finally, another great game, and I look for nothing less next week at Farragut when the Admirals take on Tennessee commit Devrin Young and the Bearden Bulldogs.

Biggest stop of the game . . . Not letting Crisp cross the goal line on the 2pt conversion.