Forsyth Central did its best to find out if it could generate three yards and a cloud of dust on artificial turf Friday against Chattahoochee.

And for two quarters the Bulldogs did just that (without the dust), monopolizing the football and playing the explosive Chattahoochee offense to a stalemate.

But in the end the Cougars’ philosophy of “get the ball to Kane Whitehurst and let him run down the field” prevailed in a 35-14 win for Chattahoochee.

“Kane is a special kid,” said Chattahoochee head coach Terry Crowder. “He’s got speed like I haven’t coached in a long time.”

The transfer from Northview had a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter to give the Cougars a 14-7 lead. Then he took a short pass in the flats from quarterback Timmy Byerly and turned it into a 73-yard touchdown that gave Chattahoochee an insurmountable 28-14 lead in the third quarter.

In fact, the only thing that the Chattahoochee offense struggled to do was get on the field.

After the Cougars went up 7-0 on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Byerly to Hunter Thomas with just under 10 minutes left in the first quarter, Forsyth Central took over and proceeded to methodically march down the field. The Bulldogs embarked on an epic 18-play, 80-yard drive that consumed 11:17 off the game clock. They converted four third downs, one fourth down and never gained more than seven yards on any one play until quarterback Spencer Transue scampered in from 17 yards out to tie the score at 7-7.

“They just had a plan that they were going to go four downs, and all they had to do was just make three yards each down,” Crowder said. “And when a team decides they’re going to go for it on fourth down, it’s hard to take the ball away from them.

“They had a week off. They had a great plan. Their coaching staff did a great job of getting ready for us. It was just tough to get the ball away from them.”

Whitehurst’s return of the ensuing kickoff put the Cougars back on top, but it also put the Bulldogs offense right back on the field.

And they once again went on the march. This time they covered 79 yards on 17 plays and found the end zone on a 3-yard play-action pass from Transue to Joey Negley to tie the score with 1:25 left in the first half.

But Byerly took advantage of another short field, driving the Cougars 41 yards in less than a minute, capping the drive with a 1-yard touchdown dive with 28 seconds left. That score put the Cougars up for good, 21-14.

The Bulldogs relied heavily on running back Alex Taylor, who rushed for 77 yards on 22 carries in the first half. He finished with 105 yards on 31 carries, but the Forsyth Central offense never mustered the same continuity in the second half, as penalties and turnovers (one fumble lost, one interception) undermined the Bulldogs’ shot at the upset.

Byerly rushed for 40 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries and completed 5 of 8 passes for 124 yards and two more scores to pace the Cougars offense.

The win puts Chattahoochee at 2-0 heading into next week’s matchup with 2-1 Creekview.

“We’ve got a 10 game region schedule. You’ve got to show up to play every week,” Crowder said. “And to be 2-0, there isn’t a better start.”