Cherokee still has not scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter of a game since its season opener in August. But Friday night at Westlake, it didn’t matter. The Warriors scored every point they needed much earlier.
Cherokee (8-3), the No. 4 seed from Region 4-AAAAAAA, scored 27 points in the second quarter en route to a 41-23 thumping of the Region 2-AAAAAAA champion Lions. Westlake (6-5) played a huge role in its second first-round exit in its last three playoff appearances by throwing five interceptions in the quarter, which basically decided the game.
A 5-yard touchdown run by sophomore Zina Mulbah pulled Westlake to within 14-10 just over a minute into the second quarter. But Cherokee responded immediately, taking advantage of a 40-yard return of the ensuing kickoff by sophomore Adarrius Harshaw. Just four plays later, sophomore quarterback AJ Swann lofted a pass to senior Devin Ellison, who hauled it in with one hand while fending off a Westlake defender for a 25-yard touchdown to push the lead to 21-10.
Three plays into Westlake’s ensuing drive, junior quarterback Jimmy Inman’s pass was intercepted by senior Carter Hedrick, who returned it to the Lions’ 15-yard line. Westlake’s defense kept the Warriors out of the end zone, so they settled for a 31-yard field goal by senior Luis Mijangos and a 24-10 advantage.
But on the third play of the Lions’ next possession, sophomore Austin Trimble stepped in front of a Westlake receiver running an out route, snatched Inman’s pass out of the air and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown to push the lead to 31-10 with just under five minutes left in the half.
The next time Westlake had the ball, Inman threw his third interception in as many possessions, as senior linebacker Brandon Byrd jumped a route in the middle of the field. But Cherokee gave the ball right back to the Lions as Swann’s deep pass was picked off by Micha Robinson at Westlake 10-yard line.
Freshman RJ Johnson replaced Inman at quarterback, but the result was the same – another interception, this time by Cherokee senior safety Patrick Dahlen. The Warriors couldn’t convert the turnover into points, and punted the ball away, pinning Westlake at its 12-yard line with less than a minute remaining in the half.
But attempting to stay aggressive cost the Lions as Johnson threw Westlake’s fifth interception of the quarter. Byrd, who came into the game with just two interceptions on the season, picked off his second pass of the game with just :04 seconds left in the half. Mijangos came on to drill a 29-yard field goal to give the Warriors a 34-10 edge at intermission.
“They were not very complicated,” Cherokee head coach Josh Shaw said of Westlake’s offense. “Our defense was able to create some turnovers and we were able to take advantage.”
Cherokee continued the onslaught in the third quarter, marching 73 yards in just seven plays, the last one a 10-yard touchdown pass to Harshaw from Swann, as the Warriors’ lead swelled to 41-10. But Westlake responded with two quick touchdowns on its next two possessions both by junior running back Jamari Sirmons on runs of 18 and 1-yard, to pull the Lions to within 41-23.
Westlake’s defense continued its solid play in the second half and gave the ball back to the offense with a little over a minute left in the third quarter. The Lions drove to the Cherokee 22-yard line but two negative-yardage plays and an intentional grounding penalty thwarted the possession and Westlake punted with a little over 10 minutes left in the game. It was the last time they would see the ball.
The Warriors took possession on their 18-yard line and put the game into the hands of their offensive line (seniors Justin Blalock and Noah Reyna, juniors Nason Simmons, Steve Hardison and Derrick Battle, and sophomore Asher Allred), H-back Cody Butler and running backs senior Nathan Muse and sophomore Keith Adams Jr. Cherokee ran the ball 16 straight times, picking up four first downs to put the game away.
Adams Jr. finished with just over 100 yards rushing, giving him 1,000 yards for the second consecutive season. It was an especially sweet win for him, as his father, Keith Adams Sr., was a three-sport star at Westlake in the mid 1990’s, before going on to a stellar football career at Clemson (he was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 1999) and a seven-year career in the NFL.
“The word our seniors came up with for this season is finish,” Shaw said. “Finish plays, finish drives and finish games. We were able to do that tonight.
Cherokee will face the winner of Archer-Collins Hill in next week’s second round.
Cherokee 7 27 7 0 41
Westlake 3 7 13 0 23
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