David Brainerd defeats Sunbright 26-16

By BRIAN LANGLEY

Morgan County News

CHATTANOOGA—It was a cat fight at Washington Hills in Chattanooga last Friday night.

The David Brainerd Christian Wildcats beat the Sunbright Tigers 26-16 to open up the 2008 high school football season.

Last year, David Brainerd topped Sunbright 14-7 to spoil Johnny Harrison’s coaching debut.

David Brainerd jumped out to a 13-0 first quarter lead with Brooks Thedford hitting Will Keebler for a 46-yard touchdown pass and Denzel Lowery added a nine-yard scoring run.

Sunbright took a 16-13 lead in the first half after Garrett Starkey (21-yard run) and Justin Huseman (2-yard run) each rushed for a second quarter touchdown. Huseman and Starkey each added a two-point run to give them the lead.

David Brainerd’s Lowery scored on a seven-yard run late in the first half to regain the lead for good.

Keebler recovered a fumble in the end zone with a little over eight minutes left in the game for the final score of the 26-16 win for the Wildcats.

Sunbright had some missed opportunities, with three drives inside David Brainerd’s 20 without any points.

Each team lost one fumble and the two teams were flagged a combined 17 times for 130 yards.

According to stats compiled in the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Sunbright’s 358-yard offensive effort was led by a potent 1-2 senior rushing punch of Garrett Starkey (18-147, 1 TD) and Nick Henes (20-131). The Tigers were 2-6 for 35 yards through the air.

Sunbright won the battle of first downs by an 18-14 margin.

David Brainerd’s 423-yard offensive output was led by the passing of QB Brooks Thedford (11-17 for 268 yards, 1 TD passing) and the rushing of Denzel Lowery (10-110, 2 TD). Will Keebler (2-88, 1 TD) and Patrick McCullough (2-43) were the top receivers.

The Tigers will travel to Jellico this Friday in a non-region contest. Sunbright is looking to avenge last season’s 34-6 home loss to the Blue Devils. Jellico is coming off a 29-7 loss at Oakdale last week.

Sunbright head coach Johnny Harrison, in only his second season, informed the Morgan County News this weekend that he will have no comments at all this season about his team or players for the Morgan County News. Harrison, who is 3-8 in his career, will also not be providing game film this season for stats and game story information for the Morgan County News.