Smith, Mitchell lift Westwood past River Bluff

At Lexington, quarterback Jalen Smith shined in his first start and running back Rudy Mitchell provided a spark off the bench as Westwood defeated River Bluff 34-17 on Saturday in the final game at the Battle of the Bluff.

Smith threw for 248 yards, including a 75-yard pass to Montre Miller which put the Redhawks up 24-10 in the third quarter. Mitchell came in for an injured Andrew Plante, and rushed for a game-high 149 yards. Plante played the first series and then left with a nagging ankle injury, coach Rodney Summers said.

River Bluff got within 27-17 on Brandon Tillmon’s 3-yard pass to Trent Brittingham with 7:51 to play. The Redhawks recovered the onside kick and then added insurance on a Deuntrey Gallman touchdown run to make it 34-17.

Miller led all receivers with 170 yards on six catches. Westwood outgained River Bluff 442-347.

TURNING POINT

Trailing 17-10, River Bluff put together an impressive on its opening drive in the third quarter and got it inside the Westwood 30-yard line before Ti’Juan Glenn fumbled a handoff and Westwood recovered. On the first play after the fumble, Smith hit Montre Miller on a 75-yard screen pass for a touchdown to put Westwood up 24-10.

KEY PERFORMERS

Rudy Mitchell: Westwood running back in for an injured Andrew Plante and rushed for 149 yards.

Jalen Smith: Westwood quarterback was 9-of-15 for 249 yards and a touchdown in first varsity start.

Brandon Tillmon: River Bluff quarterback threw for 209 yards and rushed for 66 in the loss.

OBSERVATIONS

Injuries hit Westwood: In addition to Plante’s injury, Westwood also lost offensive lineman Emmanuel Scott, who was on crutches after the game. But the Redhawks showed the ability to overcome them against the Gators.

Smith is smooth: Jalen Smith played some last year but this is his time to lead the team and showed he is capable of it. Other than an interception in the first half, he did a good job throwing it and showed the ability to move the ball with his legs.

Both teams struggle on third downs: Both Westwood and River Bluff’s defenses struggled getting off the field. Each team converted on six third-down conversions in the game. Westwood converted on three in one scoring drive. That obviously needs to get better for both teams in the season.

THEY SAID IT

“Montre has phenomenal track speed and we had some great blocks by our backs. He got a crease and hit. That was kind of momentum swing and took some air out of them.” – Westwood coach Rodney Summers on Montre Miller’s 75-yard touchdown catch.

“We told him we had a big play for him and when he caught he made it happen.” – Westwood QB Jalen Smith on Montre Miller

“The outcome wasn’t what we wanted but we had our chance. We just got to learn to be men and capitalize on it.” – River Bluff coach David Bennett said

THREE KEY NUMBERS

3: Consecutive timeouts called by Westwood and River Bluff when Redhawks had ball on Gators’ 5-yard-line late in second quarter. Westwood ended up settling for a field goal.

6: Number of third down conversions made by Westwood.

8: Number of different River Bluff receivers who caught a pass.

HOW THEY SCORED

1st Quarter

W – Smith 1 run (Howard kick), 9:54

RB – Salters 22 FG, 3:32

2nd Quarter

W – Smith 1 run (Howard kick), 11:44

RB – Green 3 run (Salters kick), 4:13

W – Howard 22 FB, 0:22

3rd Quarter

W – Miller 75 pass from Smith (Howard kick), 7:15

4th Quarter

W – Howard 30 FG, 11:55

RB – Brittingham 3 pass from Tillmon (Salters kick), 4:09

W – Gallman 5 run (Howard kick), 2:43

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: W: Mitchell 15-159; Smith 12-42. RB: Tillmon 12-66; Glenn 12-42; Pollard 8-14; Johnson 2-10

Passing: W: Smith 9-15-1 248; RB: Tillmon 14-19-1 209

Receiving: Miller 4-170; Gallman 2-46 RB: Johnson 4-46; Ledell 3-73; Kight 2-55; Glenn 2-21

This story was originally published August 22, 2015 at 11:29 PM.