The Tigers routed the Whitehouse Wildcats Friday in their first game of the season. They started out of the gate with guns blazing to hold a comfortable lead for most of the game.

“We had some flaws in the game and made some mistakes,” head football coach Barry Norton said. “We were sloppy early and had some penalties that killed us on some early downs, but I thought we got we got it going good offensively. Defensively, we were pretty dominant.”

The Wildcats got deep into Texas High’s territory in the first quarter, but the drive ended when defensive lineman Jacobi Brewer recovered a fumble and returned it to Texas High’s 34-yard line. This ignited the Texas High offense.

Quarterback Cade Pearson and wide receiver Tevailanvce Hunt connected on a 21- yard pass to bring Texas High to the Wildcat’s 29-yard line. Pearson capitalized on the drive on an 8-yard keeper, bringing the score to 7-0 with 1:20 left in the first quarter.

“The whole team did a really great job,” Pearson said. “Coach Norton was a little upset on a few plays we didn’t execute very well on the first few drives. After that, we just kept scoring on them.”

Cornerback Jacorien Walker recovered a fumble on Texas High’s 48-yard line with 1:03 left in the first quarter. Receiver Quan Hampton caught a 43-yard pass from Pearson to get the Tigers to the Whitehouse 9-yard line.

After 4 seconds into the second quarter, running back Markese Martin bulldozed his way for 4 yards into the end zone, bringing the score to 14-0.

The Tigers continued their offensive prowess when receiver Jacobie Brown caught a 32-yard pass, bringing the Tigers to the 21-yard line. Tight end Kip Williams finished the drive with a 9-yard pass to score the Tigers third touchdown bringing the score to 21-0.

The Wildcats gained their footing when running back Shemar Smith rushed for 26 yards, giving the Wildcats a first down at the Texas High’s 43-yard line. With 4:15 remaining in second quarter, Whitehouse’ quarterback Tanner Roach completed a pass to receiver Trent Williams to put the Wildcats on the scoreboard, 21-7.

Photo by Rachel Lewis Junior Marquis Martin stiff arms a Whitehouse defender during the August  28, 2015 game at Whitehouse.

As the first half drew to a close, running back Jakardi Witcher exploded for 71 yards up the middle for a touchdown and pushed the Tiger’s lead to 28-7 at the 2:39 mark.

With 1:48 remaining before halftime, Whitehouse punted the ball to Texas High’s 44-yard line. The Tigers quickly gained yardage with a 53-yard completion to  Hampton. Pearson ran the ball in with 30 seconds left in the first half for their fifth touchdown to build a 34-7 lead at the break.

“Everything went well on offense,” Witcher said. “We capitalized on things we should’ve capitalized on, and we played as a team.”

The Tigers tried to chew up the clock with multiple running plays during the first half of the third quarter. Midway through the third quarter receiver Michael Kendricks caught an 18-yard pass for a touchdown from Pearson bringing the score to 41-7.

Early in the fourth quarter, cornerback Eric Sutton intercepted a pass and returned it to the Whitehouse 1-yard line. Senior John Travis Morgan then punched the ball in for 1 yard on the keeper at the 9:20 mark to grab the Tiger’s largest lead of the game, 48-7.

Whitehouse gained some traction against the Tigers when Wildcat receiver Zach Parker caught a 25-yard pass at the 1:41 mark to stop the scoring drought, bringing the score to 48-14. Whitehouse scored the final touchdown of the game at 1:36 when receiver Jordan Mims caught an 11-yard pass, closing the final score to 48-20.

“I thought were were really sloppy at the end, and I hate the ball game ending like it did,” Norton said. “We didn’t finish the way I wanted to but, I saw some really good things out of our football team, and I think we can get something to work on and grow from.”