The seniors got to enjoy a rout after Boyle scored five touchdowns in a 12-minute span, and Boyle coach Larry French said the work the players put in during their days at Jabez allows them to enjoy nights like this one.
“I think that kind of sets the tone for the season. They remember all the hard work that they put in and the effort that they have to give and the sacrifices that they have to make to be a championship football team,” French said. “This team has put their time in, and they’ve put some effort in, and they’ve come a long way. We’re not the most talented team in America, but our kids give a good effort.”
Casey Whittle threw three touchdown passes, Lloyd Hall caught two of them, Devon Cox ran for two scores and Boyle (7-3) kept Whitley (3-7) out of the end zone until late in the game.
“You always want your seniors to go out on top ... and I thought we had some kids step up and play pretty good,” French said. “But we also came out a little flat, I thought, and didn’t stick it to them real good defensively there at the beginning. But the second half we stepped it up a little better, and they did a pretty good job.”
Boyle scored on consecutive series to take a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter, but Whitley ran the ball down the Rebels’ throats during a second-quarter drive in which it had the ball for almost seven minutes before Boyle’s Tommy Hastings broke up a Austin Ysidro’s first pass attempt of the game on third down and the Colonels settled for a 34-yard field goal by Seth McCoy.
Boyle stiffened on defense after that, however, and Whitley got only 99 yards the rest of the way and didn’t threaten the end zone again until the Rebels’ second-team defense was on the field.
“We just got after them pretty good. They were doing a couple things pretty good in there ... that we weren’t ready for, that we didn’t prepare for, and it took us a little time to get used to that,” French said.
While Whitley’s offense stalled, Boyle repeatedly got good field position and repeatedly took advantage of it. The Rebels scored one touchdown late in the second quarter and four more in the third quarter with a total of 12 offensive plays.
It started when the Rebels took over at the Whitley 37 after the Colonels’ onside kick attempted failed and they were called for fair-catch interference at the same time. Whittle immediately threw a screen pass that Lloyd Hall caught and took to the end zone to give Boyle a 21-3 lead.
Whittle hooked up with Hall for a 59-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the second half, Cox scored on runs of 10 and 58 yards and Jarrod Harrington scored from 14 yards out on a reverse as the Rebels stretched their lead to 49-3.
Whittle was 8 for 13 for 192 yards, and he is 33 for 44 for 578 yards with six touchdown passes during Boyle’s current three-game winning streak.
“He’s coming around. He’s making plays, and he’s getting a lot of confidence,” Frenche said.
Boyle divided its 378 offensive yards almost evenly between rushing and passing yards. Hall had three catches for 108 yards, and Cox ran for 95 yards on only nine carries.
Whitley got all of its 223 yards on the ground, led by fullback Boston Bryant with 92 yards on 20 carries.
Boyle held the Colonels to 58 yards in the second half.
“We were stopping the fullbacks, reading our keys, going downhill and attacking,” Mattingly said. “We could’ve done better sometimes, but we kept them out of the end zone pretty good.”
Mattingly caught a pass in the backfield and turned it into an 18-yard score in the second quarter, and he recovered a fumble forced by Seph Burke on a Whitley kickoff return in the third quarter. Burke also ran for a first-quarter touchdown.
