Sports
Whitefish Bay Can't Stop Highlanders Passing Game in 42-7 Loss
Blue Dukes struggle from early on; fall to Highlanders on the road.
Most football games are not decided until after halftime and some even come down to the final whistle. This game was over right after the opening kickoff.
Homestead played 60 solid minutes of football to defeat Whitefish Bay 42-7 at Homestead on Thursday. The win ups the Highlanders record to 7-1 (6-0 North Shore Conference) and the loss drops Whitefish Bay to 4-4 (3-3). The Blue Dukes can still clinch a spot in the WIAA playoffs with a victory over Nicolet next week.
The Highlanders took the opening kickoff and marched down the field on a 16-play, 80-yard drive that lasted almost eight minutes. The issue for the Blue Dukes on this drive, and what would be an issue for them all night, was the tackling. Whitefish Bay coach Jim Tietjen was not pleased with his team's tackling after the game.
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“There were missed tackles” said Tietjen. “Guys that don't normally miss tackles missed tackles.”
The other issue Whitefish Bay had in the game defensively was Homestead's passing game down the sidelines. Of the Highlanders' 182 passing yards, 158 came in the first half and much of that came from the outside vertical passing game.
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Homestead capped that opening drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Cody Berger to junior running back Jabree Washington with just over four minutes to go in the first quarter.
Homestead found the end zone again early on in the second quarter when senior running back Antoine Easterling ran it in from 1 yard out. Whitefish Bay got on the board just over a minute later when junior running back Rashadeem Gray found a crease and took off down the sideline for a 48-yard touchdown run.
Homestead answered right back when Berger called his own number from 22 yards out and the Highlanders added one more in the first half when junior running back Shaquille Cole ran it in from 3 yards out to give Homestead a 28-7 halftime lead.
The Highlanders added two more second half touchdowns when Jabree Washington ran it from 2 yards out halfway through the third quarter and early on in the fourth quarter when Berger found senior tight end Stephen Shepard through the air from 24 yards out to give Homestead a 42-7 lead.
Whitefish Bay's game against Nicolet is at home next Friday.
