McCollister, John Tyler trounce Whitehouse

Published 12:29 am Saturday, September 27, 2014

WHITEHOUSE — If Whitehouse ignited a rivalry by beating John Tyler for the first time last year, the Lions reasserted their dominance in said rivalry on Friday night.

Geovari McCollister accounted for 369 yards and six touchdowns as No. 7 John Tyler crushed previously unbeaten Whitehouse 52-17 in the District 16-5A opener at Wildcat Stadium.

After Whitehouse won last year’s meeting in a 55-54 classic that came down to a failed two-point conversion in the final minute, John Tyler put this game to bed early, taking a 38-10 lead into halftime.

The Lions (3-1, 1-0) were on target from the start thanks to McCollister, who had more touchdown passes (five) than incompletions (four) in the first half. The Wildcats (3-1, 0-1) meanwhile were held to 340 yards, 164 less than their average coming in.

“Coming into this game I knew it was going to be special,” McCollister said. “It was a game that I was looking forward to because the way it ended last year. The ending wasn’t what we were expecting last year. We expected to win last year and we expected to win this year and I wanted to just come out and make sure that we won this year.”

McCollister completed 14 of 20 passes for 295 yards and touchdowns to five different receivers. He added 74 yards and a score rushing. McCollister’s scores came on throws of 22, 11, 57, 22 and 19 yards, all in the first half.

The senior quarterback spread the ball around to seven different receivers. Quaylan Brown had a game-high 68 receiving yards. Jeremy Wilson and Duntayviun Gross each caught a game-high four passes for 36 yards.

“They played big; they made plays,” McCollister said of his receivers. “They made a lot of plays. They went up and caught balls and they made good runs. Tonight was just a good night for the offense.”

Jackson Allen, Whitehouse’s first-year starter under center, was under pressure all night long and completed 12 of 34 passes for 147 yards with three interceptions and one touchdown. The Wildcats offense was able to run the ball well (193 yards), but couldn’t keep drives alive because of the JT pass defense.

John Tyler senior Jordan Owens had two picks while Isaac Warren grabbed the other in the end zone on the final play of the third quarter.

After blowing a 14-point halftime lead against rival Robert E. Lee their last time out, the Lions made sure they didn’t slip up again. Owens caught a misfired pass on the third play of the second half and JT scored four plays later to make it 45-10 and stop any thoughts of a Whitehouse comeback.

“We got back to John Tyler football,” Lions coach Ricklan Holmes said. “I think we kind of forgot the things that we’ve been doing to win those first two games and we slacked off, especially on the defensive side of the ball. We got back to what we do, understanding that what we’re doing is the reason why we’re successful and getting back refocused.”

Vincent Dunning rushed for a game-high 134 yards and a touchdown to power the Wildcats offense. He ran for a 12-yard score on a quick, six-play, 75 yard drive on Whitehouse’s first possession for a 7-3 lead.

After that, though, it was all John Tyler.

Luis Duran booted a 43-yard field goal on the Lions’ first possession, then JT found its rhythm. The Lions scored on their next three possessions and five of their next seven in the first half for a 38-10 lead.

The spurt started with a short field after the Lions recovered an onside kick attempt. It took McCollister four plays to find the end zone for his first touchdown pass, this on a short pass wide allowing Wilson to speed around the edge from 22 yards out.

The Lions then took over at the Wildcats 12 after Whitehouse’s punter touched his knee to the ground kneeling to grab a low snap, ending the play. Two plays later Rodney Bendy hauled in an 11-yard score on a pass that was tipped by the Whitehouse defender.

John Tyler made it 24-7 late in the first quarter when McCollister shook off a sack attempt and bought time to find a wide-open Bryson Smith, who sprinted untouched for half of the 57-yard touchdown.

Whitehouse pulled within 24-10 after a pair of JT punts, but the Lions extended their lead with two touchdowns in the final four minutes of the half.

First, JT drove 75 yards in three plays, the last a strike from McCollister into Nick Cain’s stride from 22 yards. The second came following a pump fake that allowed Duntayviun Gross to become wide open in the end zone with 48 seconds left in the half for a 38-10 lead at the break.

“The offense did that from the kickoff to the end of the game,” Holmes said. “They understand that we’ve got the guys out there that can do the damage that needs to be done to discourage defenses, to put points on the board and to control the clock with the ball on the ground. Our running attack is probably 10 to 20 times better than it has been in past years.”

The Lions racked up 197 yards on the ground to finish with 505 total yards, a season high. Wilson had a 2-yard touchdown run to cap the scoring late in the third quarter. The run was set up by a 68-yard pass to Brown and came moments after Trent Williams hauled in an 18-yard touchdown from Allen for Whitehouse’s only score of the second half.

After losing a 23-game district win streak to Whitehouse last year, John Tyler has started a new one by improving to 4-1 over its local rival. The Lions will look to continue that back at home next week against Lindale.

“Last year we were hanging our heads, walking off the field crying,” McCollister said. “This year we’re happy about it but we’ve got to get back to work.”

———

District 16-5A

No. 7 John Tyler 52, Whitehouse 17

At Wildcat Stadium

John Tyler 24 14 14 0 — 52

Whitehouse 7 3 7 0 — 17

First Quarter

JT—Luis Duran 43 FG, 10:16.

WH—Vincent Dunning 12 run (Colby Crim kick), 8:56.

JT—Jeremy Wilson 22 pass from Geovari McCollister (Duran kick), 7:54.

JT—Rodney Bendy 11 pass from McCollister (Duran kick), 6:14.

JT—Bryson Smith 57 pass from McCollister (Duran kick), 2:33.

Second Quarter

WH—Crim 27 FG, 9:14.

JT—Nick Cain 22 pass from McCollister (Duran kick), 4:00.

JT—Duntayviun Gross 19 pass from McCollister (Duran kick), 0:48.

Third Quarter

JT—McCollister 5 run (Duran kick), 10:16.

WH—Trent Williams 18 pass from Jackson Allen (Crim kick), 2:42.

JT—Jeremy Wilson 2 run (Duran kick), 2:14.

ATT—7,000

JT WH

First Downs 25 18

Rushes-Yards 38-197 38-193

Passing Yards 308 147

Comp.-Att.-Int. 18-25-1 12-34-3

Punts-Avg. 5-34.8 5-35.0

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-1

Penalties-Yards 7-61 3-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—John Tyler, Geovari McCollister 13-74, Jeremy Wilson 9-61, Dejuan Beal 9-39, Bryson Smith 5-21, Pierre Leonard 1-1, Quaylan Brown 1-1. Whitehouse, Vincent Dunning 19-134, Jackson Allen 6-41, Shemar Smith 7-17, Dominique Hollie 4-11, Keatlon Coffer 1-3.

PASSING—John Tyler, McCollister 14-20-0—295, Smith 4-5-1—13. Whitehouse, Allen 12-34-3—147.

RECEIVING—John Tyler, Jeremy Wilson 4-36, Duntayviun Gross 4-36, Cordarion Johnson 3-13, Brown 2-68, Nick Cain 2-54, Smith 1-57, Tommy Dyer 1-33, Rodney Bendy 1-11. Whitehouse, Shemar Smith 3-13, Trent Williams 2-53, Eric Munoz 2-46, Drew Smith 2-22, Vincent Dunning 1-7, Zach Parker 1-4, Isiah Clark 1-2.