War Eagles Open Season with Home Victory

Not much seems to have changed with West Carroll football from last season. Yes, there is a new head coach in Adam Dowland, and yes, Ben Pruitt has stepped into the starting quarterback role.

But the War Eagles still like to pound the football in the run game and tackle hard defensively.

On Friday, West Carroll opened the season with a 30-14 victory over Gibson County.

“We have to finish a little stronger,” West Carroll coach Adam Dowland said. “Coming out of the gate, we did what we wanted to from a physical standpoint. With 21 guys, conditioning is paramount. We just have to get a little bit better at it.”

West Carroll (1-0) will host Harding Academy on Friday night in Week 2 action.

West Carroll’s offense didn’t get going until the second quarter when Jayden Milton scored a one-yard touchdown on the third play of the quarter to put the War Eagles up 6-0.

The momentum really shifted to West Carroll when it recovered the onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, and Ben Pruitt hit Zac Fowler for a 50-yard touchdown. Fowler also scored the two-point conversion to give the War Eagles the 14-0 lead.

After forcing an incomplete pass on 4th-and-8, West Carroll took eight plays to score on a third straight possession. Milton scored his second touchdown of the game on a 13-yard run for the 22-0 lead at halftime.

“We will throw it a little more going forward,” Dowland said. ‘There were a few things we liked tonight, so that is why we stayed on the ground. They gave us a couple of looks out on the edge. The offensive line did a good job as they prepared well all week. And we eliminated those errors we had last week, which was good.”

In the third quarter, the West Carroll defense scored as Jace Hammett intercepted the ball and returned it for a touchdown.

At that point, the mercy rule was in effect, and the clock ran through the rest of the game.

Gibson County scored twice in the fourth quarter – on a 44-yard touchdown pass and a 24-yard touchdown pass – but the damage by West Carroll was already done. The War Eagles did score once in the fourth quarter also as Milton ran it in from 14 yards out.

“We were focused through the first three quarters,” Download said. “We have to stay focused through the full four quarters.”

Milton finished with 232 yards and three touchdowns in the win for West Carroll.