MABLETON - Christian Willis ran for 208 yards and four touchdowns as Whitefield Academy routed Fellowship Christian 47-17 on Friday night at Whitefield Stadium.

After trailing 3-0 at the end of the first period, the Wolfpack exploded for 20 second quarter points and then added 21 more in the third to run away with the game.

"It was a team victory", explained Whitefield head coach Jimmy Fields. "When you have 49 kids that are playing hard and stepping up to the plate and executing, good things will happen."

Whitefield's defense held the Paladins' rushing attack to just 58 yards on 25 carries, forcing Fellowship Christian to go to the air more often than they would have liked.

"We couldn't block 'em up front," said Fellowship Christian coach Terry Luck. "If you can't run (the ball), they're gonna pin their ears back and come get you."

The Wolfpack took the lead for good early in the second quarter when Willis capped off a 12-play, 81-yard touchdown drive with an 11-yard run.

Following a Paladin fumble on the Fellowship 14, Whitefield padded its lead on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Harrison Goudiss to Cameron Lemons. The extra point was no good, but the Wolfpack now led 13-3.

Later in the quarter, Willis scampered for 84 yards and the second of his four touchdowns to extend the Whitefield lead to 20-3 with 7:05 remaining in the half.

"I saw the hole that my (offensive) line gave me," said Willis. "And I saw the crease and I busted through. I made a cutback and I was gone."

In the second half, Willis would score on runs of 16 and 71 yards.

To its credit, Fellowship Christian fought hard and managed to claw to within 10 points at the half with a five-yard Cameron Poje to Sam Williamson touchdown pass with 50 seconds left in the second quarter to make the score 20-10. The young and inexperienced Paladins could not slow down Willis or move the ball consistently on the athletic Wolfpack defense.

"They have a lot of weapons," Luck said. "They're just better than we are. They have big, strong kids. (Lemons) and (Willis) are just quick. We've got a bunch of young kids. We start three freshman and four sophomores and we've got to get in the weight room and get bigger, faster and stronger."

Meanwhile, the Wolfpack (5-2, 4-1) put themselves back into playoff contention with the victory after a crushing loss last week to Region 5A foe Landmark Christian.

"Our region is a tough region," said Fields of Region 5A. "When you lose one like we did to a good Landmark team, you gotta come back and respond."

Whitefield will travel to Our Lady of Mercy next Friday.