Newnan scores early, dominates Westlake

By Jeff Haws

For the AJC

It was only the third play of the game, but it might have been the biggest.

Lendell Arnold’s 79-yard pass to Alec Ogletree set up Newnan’s first touchdown one play later, giving the relentless CougarS defense more than enough cushion in a 20-0 victory over Westlake.

The win gives Newnan (7-0, 6-0) sole possession of first place in Region 4-AAAAA, while the Lions (5-2, 5-1) fall to second place.

The Cougars knew at the beginning of the night that they had a chance to be alone at the top of the region, and that position was never in doubt after their first score.

It almost didn’t happen, though, as Newnan was faced with a third-and-12 from its own 18-yard line. It looked like the Cougars might be quickly giving the ball to Westlake in good field position. But Ogletree, a 6-foot-3, 214-pound Georgia commit, reached up over a smaller defensive back, grabbed the ball and scampered to the Westlake 3.

When Bryant Ball got into the end zone on the next play, the Cougars had the early lead they were looking for.

“That’s the first time all year we’ve scored on the opening drive,” Arnold said. “We came out, and we wanted to get to them early. That was a big play at the right moment.”

It might have been early but, against a stingy Westlake defense, jumping out quickly was important.

“That was huge,” Newnan coach Mike McDonald said. “That was big to go up seven on those guys. We played lights-out on defense.”

It was the fourth shutout of the season for Newnan, which put the game out of reach on one final scoring drive early in the fourth quarter. On the 80-yard drive, Arnold was 5-of-5 for 72 of his 160 passing yards, including a 16-yard touchdown strike.

For Arnold, it was nice to get the ball in his hands for a drive and lead his team down the field.

“I had a little funk in the first half throwing the ball,” Arnold said. “We had our motto, ‘Step on their heart. Step on their throat.’ We took that to heart.”

Ogletree finished with three catches for 92 yards.