Malaki Dowell shines as Warriors fall to Hillsboro

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The White County High School Warriors traveled to Music City to take on the Hillsboro Burros in a region football matchup, on Oct. 8.

Hillsboro took the opening kickoff after the Warriors deferred the option after winning the coin toss.  The Warrior defense held strong and forced the Burros to put after the opening three plays.  The Warrior offense could not move the ball and faced a fourth down and 11 to go for a first down.  The Warriors lined up in punt formation, however faked the punt. The Hillsboro defense was not fooled, and the ball was turned over on downs, giving the Burros excellent field position at the Warrior 19-yard line.  The Hillsboro offense then moved the ball 19 yards and punched the ball into the endzone with a 12-yard touchdown run by the Burros.  The extra point was good, and, with seven minutes to go in the first quarter, the Burros went up by a score of 7-0. 

The Warrior offense once again moved the ball down the field for 25 yards and once again went for it on fourth down, with a throwback pass that fell incomplete.  The Burros took possession of the ball at their own 40-yard line.  Hillsboro moved methodically down the on a 12-play drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown run.  The extra point increased the Hillsboro lead 14-0, with 10:49 left to play in the second quarter.  The Warrior offense did get on track as they moved the ball down to the Hillsboro 38-yard line.  Malaki Dowell broke free on a fourth down and inches, then ran for 38 yards to paydirt, giving the Warriors a much needed score. 

The extra point by Nate Mullins was good.  The score, with 7:09 to play in the first half, was 14-7, with Hillsboro leading the Warriors.

The Warriors attempted an onside kick, which was unsuccessful, giving the Burro offense the ball near the midfield stripe.  It took only one play for the Hillsboro’s Gordon to find a seam and outrun the Warrior defense for a 54-yard touchdown score.  The extra point moved the Burro lead to 21-7 at the 6:48 mark in the second quarter.  The Warriors’ next offensive series would see a mixture of Malaki Dowell, Jayvn Strode, and Tripp Pinion runs that moved the ball down to the 11-yard line.  Malaki Dowell once again found his way into the endzone and cut the lead to seven after the Mullins kick.  Hillsboro continued to lead 21-14, with 4:06 left to play in the second quarter. 

The Warriors again attempted an onside, however, the Warriors recovered the kick and took possession of the ball at the 48-yard line.  The Warrior offense stalled after a holding penalty, and, on a fourth and 13 to go for a first down, the Warriors punted the ball back to the Hillsboro offense.  The Steele punt was successfully downed at the 17-yard line as the Burro offense took possession of the ball, with 2:15 to play in the first half.  The Burro offense moved the ball down to the one-yard line as the ball came free and bounced into the endzone.  The Warriors received the fumble and ran the clock out for the end of the first half.  The score at the halftime break saw the Warriors trailing the Burros 21-14. 

The Warriors took the second half kick and moved the ball into Burro territory behind the running of Malaki Dowell.  With the defense focusing in on the Dowell runs, Pinion kept the ball and outran the defense for a 45- yard run.  The Mullins’ extra point tied the score at 21, with 10:40 left to play in the third quarter.  The Hillsboro offense then went on an 11-play drive that ended with a 22-yard field goal that put the Burros up by only three points at the 5:44 mark in the third quarter.  The Warriors’ offense turned the ball over on a fumble at their own 35-yard line.  What looked like another Hillsboro touchdown was called back, and the Warrior defense forced a punt after a huge quarterback sack.  The punt was downed at the Warrior 18-yard line. 

The Warriors took the ball as the third quarter ended.  With the Warriors facing a fourth down and eight yards to go for a first down, White County attempted a fake punt.  The snap went to the upback, and the pass was completed to Harris.  As he was fighting for the first down yardage, the ball came out and was returned 30 yards for a Hillsboro defensive touchdown.  The extra point gave the Burros a 10-point lead at 31-21, with 10:57 left to play in the game.  The Warrior offense again stalled after a turnover from a Pinion interception that was returned to midfield.  It only took one play for Hillsboro to take advantage of the turnover, with a 52-yard run to paydirt that increased the Hillsboro lead 38-21, with just over eight minutes to play in the game. 

The Warriors took the ball and moved 27 yards and faced a fourth down and 13 to go for a first down.  The pass attempt was incomplete and the Burros took over on downs.  After a six-play drive, Hillsboro faced a fourth down and six at the Warriors’ 22-yard line.  The pass was completed for a 22-yard score, and, with 2:14 to play, Hillsboro extended the lead 45-21.  The Warrior offense then moved the ball down the field with a big Pinion to DJ Paul pass, with a diving catch by Paul to put the Warriors within striking distance.  On first and 10 from the 20-yard line, Pinion’s pass was intercepted by Hillsboro and returned 89 yards for the final Hillsboro score.  With 1:10 left in the game, the score saw Hillsboro leading White County 52-21.

The game stats saw Hillsboro run for 226 yard and pass for 126 yards. The total offensive yard for Hillsboro was 252 yards.  The Warriors were led once again by Malaki Dowell.  Dowell ran the ball 27 times for 203 yards.  Dowell continues to increase his yearly total to 1,815 yards on the season.  Jayvn Strode ran 7 times for 4 yards.  Pinion ran 6 times for 69 yards and passed for 2 completions on 11 attempts for 51 yards and 2 interceptions.  The Warrior offense rushed for 281 yards and passed for 51.  Total offense for the Warriors was 332 yards. 

The Warriors move to 3-5 on the season and move to 0-5 in the region.  The Warriors will be off for fall break and a much needed week-long rest.  They will face another regional foe as they travel to Hunters Lane, on Oct. 22. Game time is set for 7 p.m.  The Warriors’ final home game will be Oct. 29 as they will take on Sequatchie County for a non-region game to finish the regular season.      

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