Scoring early and often, Bruins take care of Gilmer (With Video)

Published 8:00 pm Friday, October 20, 2017

TUNNEL HILL — There was little Gilmer High School could do to slow down the Northwest Whitfield High School offense Friday night in a 51-0 blowout at Bruins Stadium.

The Bruins (6-3, 3-2 Region 6-4A) scored all 51 points in the first half on just 23 offensive snaps.

It took Northwest three plays into the game to find the end zone when junior running back Dominique Sistrunk broke loose a 41-yard touchdown run for the game’s first score.

After Gilmer (0-8, 0-4 6-4A) went for it on 4th-and-2 at their own 48-yard line, coming up short, Northwest quarterback Matthew Redmond completed a 48-yard touchdown pass on the very next play to wideout Jaret Staten. A 2-point conversion extra point put the Bruins up 14-0.

Redmond, a freshman filling in for senior Luke Shiflett who is out for the remainder of the season with a broken ankle, made just his third career start, hitting on 5 of 7 passes for 92 yards and three touchdowns in just two quarters of work. Two touchdowns went to Staten, the other to Seth Henderson.

“In my first start, before the game I was really nervous, but once I got out there and ran a few plays and got that first touchdown pass, I was calm,” Redmond said. “It’s been pretty smooth from there.”

Redmond admits the butterflies fluttering in his stomach haven’t gone away just yet, but with each rep he gains experience that will be vital as the Bruins push for a spot in the playoffs.

“That’s the reason we kept throwing,” Northwest coach Josh Robinson said. “He’s gotta be able to do that. He’s settling in and getting more comfortable. We’re ready proud of where he’s at.”

In a game where most of the Bruins first-teamers only played in the first half, Sistrunk made the most of his limited work, running for 128 yards on four carries before being pulled after a 64-yard touchdown run with 10:45 left in the second quarter.

Paired with a well-oiled offense, the Bruin defense added to the scoring total in the second quarter. Gilmer quarterback David Smith dropped the snap, which got kicked toward the Bobcat end zone and eventually scooped up by senior defensive lineman Branson Stricklan for the touchdown.

It was Stricklan’s second fumble recovery of the game.

“My teammates caused the fumble and I just saw the ball and went for it,” Stricklan said. “Everyone tried to get it, but it just ended up my way. It was big. It was the first one I ever scored and it meant a lot to me to get it on senior night.”

The stingy Bruin defense ceded just 38 total yards of offense to the Bobcats.

In a game where everything seemed to click, there are still areas Robinson wants to see cleaned up as his team pushes for the playoffs. Assessing the game, the main area Robinson wants to see immediate improvement is penalties.

“The only disappointment is the penalties by our defense,” Robinson said. “We ended up with five or six penalties. We gotta fix that. That’s two weeks in a row, but outside of that there’s not a lot we can complain about.”

With one game remaining following tonight’s win, Robinson hopes the Bruins’ performance Friday will carry over into a pivotal Region 6-4A matchup at Southeast Whitfield next week with the playoffs on the line.

“Winning’s hard,” Robinson said. “I’ll take a win any way. People take it for granted. Winning is a difficult thing to do and when you don’t. We’ve found a way to fix all the bad things going on this year and I’m proud of it.”