The Collinwood Trojans football team scored their first playoff victory since 2012 on Friday with a convincing 37-7 win over the Warriors of McEwen. The Trojans once again were dominating on defense and used a strong running game, led by Blake Whitten’s three touchdowns, for their 7th win of the season.
Collinwood began at their own 48-yard line after the opening kickoff. It took six plays and 2:47 to cover the 52 yards when Whitten scored his first TD of the night on a 15-yard run. His extra point kick made it 7-0 at 9:13 of the first quarter. McEwen drove deep into Trojan territory on their first possession. With 3:30 to play in the first, Harrison Rich intercepted a pass and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown. It was the third pick six of the season for Collinwood as they now led 14-0.
After an exchange of punts, Whitten would take a pitch and scoot 45 yards down the sideline for his 2nd score of the night and a 22-0 lead with 4:57 to play in the half. He would then cap off another drive when he scored his third TD of the half at the :39 mark, giving the Trojans a 30-0 halftime lead.
The teams agreed to a running clock in the second half and many reserves got some playing time in for the Trojans. Justin Johnson scored on a 52-yard touchdown run in the 3rd quarter and the Warriors finally got on the board in the 4th quarter for a final score of 37-7 in favor of the Trojans. The Collinwood ground game amassed 290 rushing yards led by Blake Whitten with 139 yards and 3 touchdowns. He would have had 4 TD’s, but a 66 yarder was called back by a holding penalty. Justin Johnson had 81 yards and a score with Tyler Jackson rushing for 42 yards. Alex Daniel caught the only pass for Collinwood for 1 yard. Collinwood’s defense gave up 156 rushing yards and 39 passing for a total of 195 yards.
Harrison Rich had double figures in tackles on the night to go with his pick six, he also carried twice for 12 yards on offense. Overall, a very good night for the junior. When asked about the interception, he said, “When I got into the clear, all I could see was grass in front of me and I was hoping that no one would catch me.”
McEwen finishes at 4-7 on the season, a good job by Rick Rice in making the playoffs in his first season at his alma mater. With only 3 seniors, the future looks bright for his squad. Collinwood head coach Boyce Dixon said that it was good to see his old friend. “We knew that we would have to be on top of our game with him leading the program. I’m glad that we stayed focused and were able to take care of business,” said Dixon.
The Trojans are now 7-3 on the season and will travel to McKenzie, the region 6 champions, on Friday in the 2nd round of the playoffs. McKenzie is 10-1 on the season and defeated Cornersville 31-14 in the first round, the only region 6 team to beat a region 5 team in the 1st round. It will be a challenge, but if the Trojans can play up to their ability, they could very well come away with a win. The 50th season of Collinwood football has already been a good one, here’s hoping that it can be even better. GO TROJANS!!!—Submitted
Photos Courtesy of Shannon West
