TYLER -- One year can make a big difference, especially in the case of both Whitehouse and Chapel Hill.

A season ago, the Wildcats began the year 0-3 with not much hope for the future. The Bulldogs were perfect, riding a 15-game winning streak to the Class 3A Division I state championship -- with two quarterbacks no less.

But following Whitehouse's 38-14 rout of Chapel Hill on Friday night at TMF Rose Stadium in the Dairy Queen Game of the Week, both schools find themselves on opposite ends of the spectrum.

"It has to do a lot with experience," Whitehouse coach Randy McFarlin said. "Last year we had a defense with nobody on it with any experience with Friday night lights. We've got more experience, but then we've got some good sophomores that are playing that are good athletes. We simplified the defense ... we play it and we adjust out of it."

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The Wildcats improved to 2-0 on the season behind quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Ryan Cheatham. Mahomes passed for 248 yards and three touchdowns, while Cheatam totaled 205 yards of offense with a touchdown.

 

"We're not set in anything," McFarlin said, referring to his quarterback situation. "We saw them tonight, we'll evaluate that and it will be a weekly thing. (Cheatham) brings more of the running threat, so it might be where we can move to a little bit different game with Ryan in there. Having two quarterbacks, we can definitely use them."

Chapel Hill, which lost two games total in the previous two seasons, is now 0-2 to start the season. The Bulldogs struggled all night in the passing game. Starter Andrew Black completed just 2 of 14 attempts for 44 yards with a touchdown an interception before being pulled in the third quarter in favor of Lex Heckel, who was 4-of-11 for 25 yards and an INT.

"Right now, we've got new quarterbacks and new receivers," Chapel Hill coach Thomas Sitton said. "It's going to take a little bit more time to get the timing down in our passing game. But we're going to work hard at it and we're going to get it going."

The Wildcats, who were burned for 59 points and almost 600 yards in last season's loss to Chapel Hill, came to play on defense. Chapel Hill was limited to just 275 yards and turned it over twice.

"We simplified the defense ... we play it, we adjust out of it," McFarlin said. "That's been the biggest turnaround, our defense."

Dylan Cantrell and Jaylon Dews sparked the Whitehouse receiving corps. Cantrell had 10 catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns, while Dews had four receptions for 65 yards and two TDs.

Joseph Clark led Chapel Hill with 125 yards and a touchdown rushing, and had an interception on defense. Jamarcus McCowin caught a 39-yard TD and rushed for 49 yards for the Bulldogs.

Whitehouse broke open a 10-point game by scoring three times in the third quarter. Mahomes hit Dews for a pair of touchdowns that covered 50 and 5 yards, while Vincent Dunning put the game away with a 51-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter to put the Wildcats up 38-14.

"On a couple of those touchdowns I thought we were in pretty good coverage," Sitton said. "We kind of just tipped the ball to them. We had several mental errors that got us tonight. We've just got to get that fixed and keep working."

Whitehouse took the game's first lead when Destin Wilkins booted a 25-yard field goal with 4:18 remaining in the opening quarter.

Chapel Hill took a 7-3 lead on the ensuing possession when Black hit McCown for a 39-yard touchdown on fourth-and-9.

The lead was short-lived, however, when Mahomes found Cantrell for a 37-yard score just three plays and 32 seconds later. Whitehouse built a 17-7 lead just before the half when Cantrell came down with a 28-yard TD from Cheatham, making a juggling, one-handed grab in the back of the end zone.

"We're going to have the offense," McFarlin said. "We're going to be a real good offensive team, combine that with a much-improved defensive team ... it ought to be a great season."

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Whitehouse 38, Chapel Hill 14
At TMF Rose Stadium, Tyler
Whitehouse             10    7   21    0    --   38
Chapel Hill                 7    0     7     0    --   14
First Quarter
WHI--FG Destin Wilkins 25, 4:18.
CH--JaMarcus McCowin 39 pass from Andrew Black (Jesus Lopez kick), 1:22.
WHI--Dylan Cantrell 37 pass from Patrick Mahomes (Wilkins kick), :50.
Second Quarter
WHI--Cantrell 28 pass from Ryan Cheatham (Wilkins kick), :14.
Third Quarter
WHI--Jaylon Dews 50 pass from Mahomes (Wilkins kick), 9:32.
CH--Joseph Clark 69 run (Lopez kick), 9:20.
WHI--Dews 5 pass from Mahomes (Wilkins kick), 3:30.
WHI--Vincent Dunning 51 run (Wilkins kick), :08.

WH                   CH
First Downs                                 19                            13
Rushes-Yards                    23-170                 39-206
Passing Yards                           364                           69
Comp.-Att.-Int.               25-44-2                    6-25-2
Punts-Avg.                            6-35.3                   7-28.3
Fumbles-Lost                              1-1                         2-0
Penalties-Yards                   11-115                        8-55

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Whitehouse, Ryan Cheatham 10-91, Vincent Dunning 6-80, Isaiah Burton 2-11, Roy Lee White 2-(-1), Patrick Mahomes 1-(-3), Zen'Derrion Haskins 2-(-8). Chapel Hill, Joseph Clark 11-125, Jamarcus McCowin 8-49, Andrew Black 9-11, Wesley Thompson 2-10, Londreyus Johnson 6-7, Blake Mayfield 2-7, Jared Mitchem 1-(-3).
PASSING--Whitehouse, Mahomes 15-24-0--248, Cheatham 10-20-2--116. Chapel Hill, Black 2-14-1--44, Lex Heckel 4-11-1--25.
RECEIVING--Whitehouse, Dylan Cantrell 10-156, Jaylon Dews 4-65, Jake Parker 4-47, Coleman Patterson 3-44, Dunning 2-30, Jared Raabe 1-12, Haskins 1-0. Chapel Hill, Gabriel Robinson 2-11, McCowin 1-39, Reginald King 1-12, Black 1-9, Corey Starks 1-(-2).

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