Whitefield Academy found itself in a dangerous position Friday night in its homecoming football game against Heritage of Newnan.
The Wolfpack (5-1) was coming off its first loss of the season, looking forward to a Class A Private showdown with top-ranked Trinity Christian next week, and facing a Heritage team that was still looking for its first victory since moving to the GHSA last season.
Heritage (0-5) made the game close for the better part of three quarters, but Whitefield Academy got two touchdowns in the final 17 minutes from Caleb LaVallee, his third and fourth scores of the night, and pulled away for a 28-10 victory in the non-region game.
“When you add homecoming to it, there were a lot of distractions,” Whitefield Academy coach Coleman Joiner said. “Obviously the Trinity game next week is one that’s been circled on the calendar. That’s something that when you’re dealing with teenage guys and high school kids, you’ve got to block that out when you go into this game. They’ve got some really talented players on Heritage that gave us some fits early on. We had to preach that this week and focus and make sure that we take care of tonight.”
LaValle finished with 184 yards and three touchdowns rushing on 17 carries and caught three passes for 54 yards and a score. He had 126 of his rushing yards in the second half as the Wolfpack eventually pulled away.
Quarterback Cole Peterson was 14-of-24 passing for 178 yards, 138 of which came in the first half. Jonathan Cassady caught four passes for 71 yards, and Howard Allen ran for 62 yards on 15 carries.
Although Whitefield Academy had a huge advantage in total offense - the Wolfpack finished with 443 yards compared to Heritage’s 134 - the Hawks were still within 14-10 after a 50-yard field goal by Mack Mikko with 7:24 remaining in the third quarter.
The Wolfpack answered with an eight-play, 80-yard drive over the next three minutes and got a 38-yard touchdown run from LaVallee to make it a 21-10 game. LaVallee’s 3-yard touchdown run with 6:39 left put the game away.
“He’s the best player in Single A Private football, I believe,” Joiner said of his junior running back and linebacker. “He’s our workhorse. There was a point when the game was tight for too long early on, and we just said we were going to ride him and feed him, and he made plays. That’s what he does. He’s such a great kid and a hard worker, and our guys trust him in that when we say we’re going to give him the ball, they trust that things are gonna get done.”
Whitefield Academy never trailed after LaVallee’s 18-yard touchdown reception made it 7-0 with 4:11 remaining in the first quarter. Heritage tied the game on an 8-yard run by quarterback Hugh Barbee on the fourth play of the second quarter, but LaVallee’s 13-yard touchdown run with 5:13 remaining in the half put the Wolfpack ahead to stay at 14-7.
Barbee was 9-of-18 passing but for just 46 yards. He was the team’s leading rusher with 48 yards on 11 carries.
Whitefield Academy’s 4-0 start to the season was a first since the school’s football program began in 2002. The winning streak ended with a 29-28 loss to Brookstone last week. Now the Wolfpack gets a chance to defeat a No. 1-ranked team for the first time when it travels to Trinity Christian next week.
Heritage-Newnan - 0-7-3-0 - 10
Whitefield Academy - 7-7-7-7 -28
First quarter
W - Caleb LaVallee 18 pass from Cole Peterson (Diego Lopez kick), 4:11
Second quarter
H - Hugh Barbee 8 run (Mack Mikko kick), 10:53
W - LaVallee 13 run (Lopez kick), 5:13
Third quarter
H - Mikko 50 field goal, 7:24
W - LaVallee 38 run (Lopez kick), 4:29
Fourth quarter
W - LaVallee 3 run (Lopez kick), 6:39
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