WESTSIDE – There was no hiccup or let down as expected as Robert E Lee marched into rival Jerry Disch Stadium and left with a convincing 41-3 win over host Westside Saturday morning.
After knocking off the defending Class 4A state champs last week on the road, you might have expected a possible let down this week with struggling rival Westside on the schedule. Lee made sure that didn’t happen scoring on its first four possessions and not letting off the gas to take a quick 28-0 lead into halftime.
Despite the early 10 a.m. start, the Generals offense came out firing right away as quarterback Cam Sapp directed the offense on a 9 play, 54 yard drive capped off by a Sapp 14 yard touchdown keeper, which gave the Generals a 7-0 lead with 9:10 left in the first quarter.
The offense wasn’t the only one on fire as the first team defense pitched a shut out and held the Wolverines offense to zero total yards before turning over to the second team defense; which surrendered one total yard of offense and allowed a last second field goal on the games final play.
Sapp connected with Taz Nicholson and Cobie Bates for gains of 13 and 14 on back-to-back plays to set up the Generals at the 1-yard line. Nicholson followed with a 1 yard touchdown run and a 14-0 lead with under a minute remaining in the first quarter.
Taz Nicholson touched the ball 4 times today and had three touchdowns, two 30 yard catches for scores and a 1 yard run for another. @DuvalSports pic.twitter.com/rW7pyoFfnt
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) September 1, 2018
Linebacker Trevor James, who was a constantly in the backfield all day, partially blocked a Abraham Mills punt to put the Generals the ball inside the 15, however a unsportsmanlike call against the Generals backed them up the 30 yard line.
It didn’t matter, as Sapp found Nicholson on a short screen pass and Nicholson initially caught the ball on the right side of the field but evaded several Wolverine defenders before cutting back across the field and down the left sideline untouched breaking several ankles along the way for a 30 yard touchdown reception and 21-0 lead with 9:26 left till half.
Cam Sapp ran the offense well throwing two touchdowns and running for one. @DuvalSports pic.twitter.com/TSdIXdHNIf
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) September 1, 2018
A possession later, Sapp found Nicholson wide open on a 30 yard touchdown on a fade route for a 28-0 lead just four minutes later.
The defense which forced back-to-back three and outs picked off both quarterbacks Jalil Jackson and Ditannon Otis as Tony Robinson and Jaheim Singletary picked off passes on back-to-back drives for the Generals.
Ahead 28-0 in the third quarter, the Generals defense forced another quick three and out and Kevonte Doles returned the punt back to the 20 yard line to set up the Generals inside the red zone.
Doles broke off runs of 7 and 12 before finishing the quick drive with a 1 yard plunge and 35-0 lead with 9:37 left in the third quarter. The score forced a running clock in the second half up 35 points.
Jacob Olds and Joel Rose (2 sacks) joined James in the backfield all day keeping the Wolverines offense out of sync and unable to get into any kind of rhythm. More importantly the line prevented either quarterback from targeting Central Michigan commit wide receiver Javon Gantt, as Gantt was held to one catch for 8 yards on the day.
Sapp was taken out of the game and replaced by Bates at quarterback and Bates showed off his skills completing both of his passes, while also running for 20 yards on keepers. Bates also hauled in three catches for 47 yards at receiver before moving to quarterback.
Cobie Bates came in at quarterback and broke several ankles on keepers. pic.twitter.com/yDIPXHhoEX
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) September 1, 2018
Doles broke off a 17 yard run to put the Generals inside the five thanks to an additional facemask call, while Raekwon Simmons followed with a 1 yard plunge to put Lee ahead 42-0 late in the fourth quarter.
With the backups in, Westside benefited from a late pass interference call on the final play of the game allowing Mills to convert a 26 yard field goal to deny the shutout.
Lee (2-0) travels to Mandarin (1-1) next week in our Game of the Week, while Westside (0-2) hosts Ridgeview (2-0) next Friday at Jerry Disch Stadium.
Whole clip of OJ Small talking after win today. pic.twitter.com/MtQ1CuSUSE
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) September 1, 2018
