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By CHRIS MEGGINSON | Special to the Reporter

MT. JULIET – Evangel Christian School blew out the Tennessee Heat, 62-7, on the road in an out-of-state 8-man contest. Nine Lightning players combined for more than 200 yards on the ground and five rushing touchdowns.

“I’m really proud of the way the kids bounced back after a tough loss two weeks ago,” said ECS head coach Tim Smith. “We needed it. We played good on both sides of the ball. Offensively, we did what we needed to do and ran the ball well and Eli threw the ball really well.”

Hunter Atkins opened the scoring with a 52-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game. He led all rushers with 60 yards on two carries. While ECS led 14-0 after the first quarter, the Lightning pushed its lead to 49-7 at the half before playing with a rolling clock in the second half.

Eli Whitfield completed 10-of-12 passes for 176 yards and four passing touchdowns, while he ran the ball four times for 35 yards and a touchdown.

Harris Black scored on a 30-yard run out of the double wing, his only carry of the night. Colton Dorough and Joshua Looman also each scored with Looman posting 47 yards on two carries.

Christian Chapman led the ECS receivers with two touchdowns and 58 yards on five catches. Judah Thompson had 28 yards on two catches, including a touchdown. Kyle Jones, who had 55 yards on two receptions, also caught a touchdown pass.

Lucas Mast and Victor Kyatt each made extra point kicks.

Kadin Jones led Evangel’s defense with seven tackles, while Harris Black had five stops, a sack and a pass break up. Zach Chandler added three tackles and two sacks.

Evangel (7-2, 2-1) will close out its Alabama 8-man conference play Oct. 22 with a trip to East Central in Pinson for a chance to return to the state championship game.