By Michael Lindsay
The Class 4A #1-ranked Upperman Bees extended their regular-season win streak to 20 games Friday evening as they won at White County, 49-7.
“It was an excellent win,” said Upperman head coach Adam Caine. “We’ve got tons of playmakers and they all stepped up and played. White County is really good and I would’ve never dreamed of holding them to 7 points. Our kids played inspired football.”
Upperman scored 35 first-half points and recorded 3 takeaways on defense against the Warriors.
Junior quarterback Bronzden Chaffin led the Bees as he went 10-11 for 135 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air along with 77 rushing yards. Ethan Palk rushed for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns along with 3 carries for 41 yards and 2 scores from Carmine Phillips.
The Bees scored on their first two drives in the first quarter as Chaffin connected with Theo Brown for a 26-yard touchdown pass followed by a 14-yard strike to Elijah Fitts to give the Bees a 14-0 lead after one quarter.
Upperman extended their advantage to 21-0 via a 5-yard rushing touchdown by Ethan Palk with 8:01 left in the second period.
Upperman’s Branson Turnbow intercepted a White County pass on the ensuing drive and returned it to the Sparta 10-yard line to set up a touchdown rush by Phillips on a reverse to give the Bees a 27-0 lead with 7:01 left in the half.
Fitts stepped up defensively and recovered a White County fumble at the Upperman 28-yard line with 2:14 remaining until halftime to set up the Bees’ final scoring drive of the first half. Upperman capped off the second quarter with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Palk followed by a 2-point conversion rush from Brown to give the Bees a 35-0 halftime lead.
Upperman tacked on a 6-yard Palk touchdown rush in the third quarter and a 27-yard touchdown run by Phillips in the fourth to take a 49-0 lead. White County found the end zone with 41 seconds remaining via a Cole Sims touchdown rush to make the final score 49-7.
White County falls to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in Region 4-4A play while Upperman improves to 5-0 and 3-0. The Warriors host Macon County (4-1, 1-1) next week while Upperman hosts Cumberland County (2-3, 0-2).
