Mistakes hurt Indians in loss to Wildcats in football scrimmage

SHARPSBURG-The dress rehearsal Thursday night at Garland Shoemake Stadium was not what East Coweta head coach Clint Wade had in mind as a number of miscues led to the Whitewater Wildcats taking an early lead on the way to a 34-19 win over the Indians.
Fortunately for the Indians, the game does not count in the standings and they will have two weeks to clean up the errors before hosting the Henry County Warhawks on August 30.
The same can’t said for the Wildcats who open next Friday on the road in Douglas to face the Coffee County Trojans of Region 1-AAAAAA.
As for the scrimmage, the Indians were held on their initial possession,and the Wildcats went to work at the EC 43 after a 28-yard punt return by Josh Alexander.
The Wildcats struck quickly as quarterback Jay Ashley connected with Cooper Fisher for a 28-yard pass and Christian Wafford was able to complete a the “drive” as he raced 15-yards for a touchdown with 10:04 remaining in the first quarter.
After both teams were held on their next possessions, the Indians took over at their 20-yard line and trouble hit the offense as a bad snap went over the head of EC quarterback Bryce Gemmel and bounced around before Amon Crumpton fell on the ball in the end zone for the second Whitewater touchdown.
The Wildcats' extra point failed and with 4:54 had a 12-0 lead that carried into the second quarter where they ended a nine-play drive with a nine-yard touchdown run by Wafford who also coverted a two-point conversion attempt that gave the visitors a 20-0 lead with 9:13 remaining.
Most of the quarter saw stalled series until the Indians caught a break as a fumbled punt return was recovered at the Wildcats' one yard line by McKenzie Martin with 4:16 remaining.
Two plays later, the Indians finally got on the board as Gemmel powered his way through the middle of the Wildcats' defense on a quarterback keeper with 3:29 remaining to cut the margin to 20-6 after the missed extra point.
Whitewater answered as they began the ensuing possession at their 35 and after a pair of runs, Ashley connected with Kyle Dugger for a 43-yard pass play that moved the ball to EC 5 with 1:21 remaining.
Colton Clemons completed the six-play drive with a one-yard hurdle over the Indians defense with 29.2 seconds remaining and after the extra point, the Wildcats took a 27-6 lead to the locker room at the half.
The Wildcats added their final score of the game at the beginning of the third quarter as a 14-yard pass from Ashley to Luke Allen and a 19-yard run by Wafford highlighted a eight-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a six-yard run by Ashley.
Gemmel was the name of the ensuing drive for the Indians as the signal caller connected with brother Jeremiah for a 17-yard pass and two plays later went on a 54-yard run that cut the score to 34-13 after the extra point by Cole Antley with 7:23 remaining.
The Indians had a chance to cut the margin to a pair of touchdowns as they took possession two minutes later at midfield moved the ball behind the running of Gemmel and Malik Robinson.
Unfortunately, Robinson fumbled the ball on a first-and-goal at the Wildcats' seven and the latter recovered to stall the drive.
In the fourth quarter, the two teams used primarily backups and junior varsity players to finish the evening and the Indians were able to close the scoring in the game as Carlos Ford scored on a five-yard run with 5:42 remaining.