Chapel Hill Offense Erupts in Bulldogs’ 49-10 Win Over Palestine

PALESTINE -- Palestine put up a fight, but Chapel Hill took over in the second half to cruise to a 49-10 victory over the Wildcats.

Chapel Hill is now 1-1 in district, while Palestine remains winless through two district games.

After a Palestine field goal gave the Wildcats a 14-10 lead early in the second quarter, Chapel Hill scored 42 straight points over the rest of the game.

The game started with a bang from the home team.

Chapel Hill received the ball first, but it was Palestine that made the game’s first big play. On the second play from scrimmage, Jhamonte Milton intercepted a pass by Chapel Hill quarterback Reggie King and returned it 28 yards to set up the Wildcats in Chapel Hill territory.

Three plays later, Palestine quarterback Claude Rodgers found the end zone on a 9-yard run. The extra point was good and the Wildcats took a quick 7-0 lead.

Chapel Hill responded on the next drive, however. The Bulldogs went on an eight-play, 59-yard drive that ended with King running the ball in from three yards out to tie the score at 7 with 6:38 left in the first quarter. Chapel Hill ran the ball on seven of the eight plays.

A 23-yard run by Kenyotta Henderson made it first-and-goal and King scored two plays later.

Palestine fired right back, taking a 10-7 lead on a 26-yard field goal by Allan Marquez. The drive ended in just a field goal, but the Wildcats drained the clock. Palestine used 6:44 off the clock and ran 11 plays on the drive, which included a fourth down conversion when Rodgers found Key-Shawn Carter for a 10-yard pass on fourth-and-five inside Chapel Hill territory.

The Bulldogs defense tightened inside the red zone to force the field goal. It would be the last time Palestine scored in the game.

Down 10-7 early in the second quarter, Chapel Hill took its third possession of the game 60 yards for a go-ahead touchdown. A 48-yard catch by Marcos Calderon on third-and-15 set up Chapel Hill with first-and-goal from the Palestine three yard line.

King bullied his way into the end zone on the next play to give the Bulldogs a 14-10 lead with 10:21 left in the first half. The drive involved seven plays, but it only took 1:19 off the clock.

The defenses won the rest of the first half. The two teams traded punts after three-and-outs before Palestine started a march towards the end zone after taking over on Chapel Hill’s 45 yard line with 5:50 left in the first half.

Jordan Darling had a big catch on the drive, but the Bulldog defense stopped four-straight Palestine runs and took over possession after a turnover on downs. Chapel Hill ran as much clock as possible, punted with 12 seconds left in the first half and Palestine’s pass attempt with time expiring brought the first half to a close.

Chapel Hill put the game to bed in the third quarter. The Bulldogs forced a punt and a long return by DeUndre Phillips set up Chapel Hill with great field position. Four plays later, King found Zach Walters for a 26-yard touchdown pass.

Chapel Hill forced another punt, taking over again inside Palestine territory and King scored his third three-yard touchdown rush of the game to put the Bulldogs up 28-10 with 3:11 left in the third quarter.

Chapel Hill’s defense got into the action on the next drive when Kaleb Golden picked off a Rodgers pass and raced 64 yards for a touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 35-10 lead heading into the final quarter.

Key-Shwan Carter added a 17-yard touchdown run with 10:12 left in the game to give Chapel Hill a 42-10 lead. Jordan Brantley added a 69-yard touchdown run with 2:55 left to extend the Chapel Hill lead to 49-10.

Chapel Hill 49, Palestine 10

At Wildcat Stadium, Palestine

Chapel Hill    7    7   21   14 – 49
Palestine      7    3     0     0 – 10
First Quarter
P: Claude Rodgers 9 run (PAT good) 10:07
CH: Reggie King 3 run (PAT good) 6:38
Second Quarter
P: Allan Marquez 26-yard FG 11:47
CH: King 3 run (PAT good) 10:21
Third Quarter
CH: Zach Walters 26 from King (PAT good) 8:02
CH: King 3 run (PAT good) 3:11
CH: Kaleb Golden 64-yard INT (PAT good) 2:19
Fourth Quarter
CH: Key-Shawn Carter 17 run (PAT good) 10:20
CH: Jordan Brantley 69 run (PAT good) 2:55

                                             CH                                                PAL
First Downs                           8                                                   15
Total Yards                            363                                               373
Rushes-Yards                       30-284                                          44-224
Comp.-Att.-Int.                      3-5-1                                            13-23-1
Punts-Avg.                             0-0                                               4-27.75
Fumbles-Lost                         0-0                                               0-0
Penalties-Yards                      7-76                                             7-59

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Chapel Hill, Reggie King 14-69, Kenyotta Henderson 10-125, Jordan Brantley 4-88. Palestine, Devonte Mims 21-119, Irric Deyon 12-23, Claude Rodgers 13-82.
PASSING – Chapel Hill, King 3-5-1-76. Palestine, Rodgers 13-23-1-149.
RECEIVING – Chapel Hill, Marcos Calderon 1-48, Henderson 1-5, Zach Walters 1-48. Palestine, Jordan Darling 5-76, Key-Shawn Carter 2-11, Deyon 2-27, Jhamonte Milton 1-13, Mims 1-8, Deonundre Hatton 1-8, Marquis Hernandez 1-6.