LowcoSports.com
The Whale Branch Warriors took a big swing with their season opener, traveling to Bluffton for a test against the Class 4A Bobcats, but they didn’t bring enough firepower to keep pace with Aedan McCarthy and crew.
McCarthy excelled in his debut as the Bobcats’ starting quarterback, completing 14 of 20 passes for 281 yards and six touchdowns – including four to Carnell Warren – to lead Bluffton to a 57-0 rout of Whale Branch on Friday.
It was McCarthy and Warren who hooked up to open the scoring on the first series of the game, and McCarthy shoveled a pass to Roman Benjamin for a 40-yard score on the next possession to make it 14-0 quickly. Warren pulled in two more touchdowns before halftime, including an acrobatic grab over the middle, to make it 29-0 at the break, and he tacked on a fourth to stretch it to 36-0 late in the third quarter.
Nate Ulmer found himself on the receiving end of McCarthy’s sixth TD pass in the fourth quarter, and Jacobi Saunders and Kaleb Gadson each scooped up a fumble and took it to the house to cap the scoring. Ulmer finished with four catches for 130 yards, while Warren had seven grabs for 94 yards, and Kordell Holley found success on the ground, collecting 74 yards on seven carries.
Whale Branch’s defense gets a break this week with a trip to Class 1A Hardeeville, whose passing game is not nearly as sophisticated as Bluffton’s high-flying attack, but the Hurricanes showed some flash in a 48-6 win at Bethune-Bowman on Friday in their first varsity game since 2012.
The Warriors’ ground game should have more room to operate, as well, after running into a Bluffton defense that brought the intensity in the opener, racking up 10 tackles for loss and five sacks along with two takeaways.
Whale Branch (0-1) plays at Hardeeville at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
