The Whitewater Wildcats will venture away from home to challenge the Trinity Christian Lions at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Whitewater has given up an average of 37.8 points per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
Whitewater was handed a 37-point defeat in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Friday. In a tight matchup that could have gone either way, they made off with a 37-36 victory over Upson-Lee. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Wildcats considering their seven-point performance the game before.
Whitewater's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Case Roberts, who rushed for 117 yards on only 12 carries, and also threw for 23 yards and one touchdown. Roberts' longest rush was for an impressive 52 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Whitewater was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 332 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Whitewater didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Bryce Alexander and Kj Deriso.
Meanwhile, Trinity Christian had to suffer through a 43-10 loss at the hands of Sandy Creek. While losing is never fun, the Lions can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Georgia football rankings (they are ranked 133rd, while the Patriots are ranked 24th).
Whitewater will have to keep a close watch on Peyton Echols and Ashton Clare, a pair of players who had a big impact on Trinity Christian's prior game. Echols picked up 148 receiving yards and one score, while Clare threw for 230 yards and one TD while completing 78.6% of his passes.
Even if they lost, Trinity Christian's defensive line still kept up the pressure with three sacks. Rudd Phillips was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up 2.5 himself.
The victory got Whitewater back to even at 2-2. As for Trinity Christian, they now have a losing record of 2-3.
Whitewater strolled past Trinity Christian in their previous meeting back in September of 2024 by a score of 32-14. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Wildcats since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
