HOMECOMING: Battle of the Wildcats

Tonight it is homecoming at Kennedale High School with the #6 Kennedale Wildcats (3-0) facing off against the Wildcats from Whitehouse. Game time 7:30 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium. {{more: read more …}}

 

Whitehouse Backstory:

 

Whitehouse (3-1) is a 5A school in District 17 where they are favored to finish in second place behind Ennis. The district also includes Corsicana, Nacogdoches, Lindale and Jacksonville.

 

With an enrollment of 1,409, Whitehouse finished 2016 at 5-7 and with a 31-21 win over Kennedale. The Whitehouse Cats have 17 starters that returned for 2017, 9 on offense and 8 on defense.

Whitehouse Cats opened the season with a 27-10 win over 5A Hallsville (0-4), followed by a 28-14 win over 4A Chapel Hill (3-1), a 42-20 loss to #1 4A Carthage (4-0) and the a 28-6 win over 5A Sulphur Springs (2-2) last week.

 

Adam Cook is in his 5th year as head coach at Whitehouse and has brought in a new offensive coordinator this year to change things up a little.

STATS:

The Whitehouse Wildcats game favors the pass. It has rushed for 490 yards, 6 touchdowns at 4.4 per carry and an average of 122.5 per game. It has passed for 826 yards and 4 touchdowns for an average of 206.5 pgm. This is a combined 924 yards or 231 yards per game and 10 touchdowns.

Their defense has allowed 76 points against (19 pg). They have recorded 6 sacks, 4 interceptions and 4 fumble recoveries along with 285 tackles (71.3 pg).

By contrast, the Kennedale Wildcats (3-0) are a running team with balance achieved between the offense and the defense play. The Kennedale Cats have scored 168 points while allowing just 39 points, more than a 4 to 1 advantage.

Having played one less game than Whitehouse, the Kennedale offense has rushed for 1040 yards (346.7 pg), passed for 178 yards (59.3 pg) for a total of 1219 yards (406.3 pg) for 24 touchdowns (8 pg)

 

The defense has allowed 39 points against (13 pg). Kennedale has recorded 221 tackles (73.7 pgm), 6 sacks, 4 interceptions, 6 fumble recoveries and 1 blocked field goal.

Playmakers for Whitehouse:

 

The take:

 

Kennedale Head Coach Richard Barrett said this week that each week Kennedale has played a team that is better than the one the week before. He is expecting a tough game tonight. That said, Kennedale is the favorite in this game. Hitting on almost every cylinder, the Cats are a balanced team that have made few mistakes in game planning and execution so far. Kennedale is also at home for this one.

Advantage: Kennedale