Although Douglas County led Whitewater 17-15 at the half, the Wildcats put forth a tremendous second half effort that produced 27 more points on offense and refused to allow another point from a potent Douglas County team to win their season opener 42-17 Friday in Fayetteville.

Making his first career varsity start at quarterback, Whitewater’s Chase Penland was impressive, completing 10 of 15 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns and running for 69 yards and one touchdown on six carries. He also completed a pass to tight end Stephan Bynoe for a two-point conversion.

Penland’s first touchdown pass was a 41-yarder to Tyler Morgan in the first quarter and his second was a 4-yarder to Jake Fisher in the fourth quarter.

Thomas Frierson sparked Whitewater’s running game, rushing 16 times for 96 yards and two touchdowns (a 5-yarder and a 1-yarder).

Lance White completed the scoring for Whitewater with a 20-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Whitewater piled up 472 yards of total offense (288 rushing, 184 passing).

Linebackers Zac Mann (11 total tackles, two sacks) and Davis Knowles (12 total tackles), defensive end Michael Herget (12 total tackles) and cornerback Jack Grove (six total tackles, two passes defensed) led Whitewater’s defense.