David Whiteside ran for two touchdowns, Nick Woods threw for two and the East Hamilton Hurricanes belted winless Central, 34-0, Friday night in Region 3-4A football action on the Purple Pounders’ home field.
With the win, East Hamilton improves to 6-3 overall and 4-1 in the region. The Hurricanes have won two in a row and four of their last five. In the four victories, East Hamilton has outscored Hixson, Soddy-Daisy, Cumberland County and Central by a combined 106-46.
Central fell to 0-8 and 0-4.
The Pounders have now scored 50 points and allowed 259.
Whiteside got the Hurricanes’ scoring parade started with touchdown runs of 39 and 3 yards in the first and second quarters. Whiteside finished with 72 rushing yards on 11 carries.
Woods cranked up the passing attack by finding Jordan Gorman and Andrew Sturdivant on touchdown tosses of 21 and 2 yards, respectively.
Jayden Smith capped the scoring with a 1-yard run with 3:22 left in the third quarter. Smith led the East Hamilton rushers with 84 yards on 13 carries.
The Hurricanes forced five turnovers, three fumbles and two interceptions.
East Hamilton winds up the regular season next week with a regional showdown against Stone Memorial, which is 8-0 overall and 4-0 in the region.
Central goes to Sequoyah in hopes of snapping its disappointing 11-game losing streak dating back to 2014.
SCORING
East Hamilton 7 21 6 0 – 34
Central 0 0 0 0 – 0
First Quarter
EH – David Whiteside 39 run (Jake McClure kick), 5:14
Second Quarter
EH – Whiteside 3 run (McClure kick), 10:30
EH – Jordan Gorman 21 pass from Nick Woods (McClure kick), 3:49
EH – Andrew Sturdivant 2 pass from Woods (McClure kick), 0:20
Third Quarter
EH – Jayden Smith 1 run (kick failed), 3:22
YARDSTICK
EH CEN
First Downs 12 5
Rushes-Yards 45-229 27-47
Passing Yards 68 24
Comp-Att-Yds 8-11-0 6-16-2
Plays-Total Yds 56-297 43-71
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 3-3
Punts-Avg 3-36.3 3-31.0
Penalties-Yds 8-85 6-40
INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING – East Hamilton: Jayden Smith 13-84, David Whiteside 11-72, Andrew Sturdivant 17-46, Jeffrey Coleman 2-19, Nick Woods 2-8; Central – Taven Spann 15-28, Devin Swafford 2-10, James Walker 2-4, D.J. Baxter 1-3, Michael McGhee 4-1, Jaheim Jones 2-1, Brian Sledge 1-0.
PASSING – East Hamilton: Woods 8-11-0 68; Central: Spann 3-6-0 21, Jones 3-10-0 3.
RECEIVING – East Hamilton: Gorman 2-41, Hunter Gregg 1-12, Sturdivant 2-10, Blake Aldredge 1-7, Whiteside 1-1, Coleman 1-minus 3; Central: Jerry Reese 1-9, Swafford 3-8, Baxter 1-8, Spann 1-minus 1.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)