TUNNEL HILL — When a traditionally solid high school football program opens the season against a first-year varsity team, the outcome is often a foregone conclusion.

Lambert’s varsity debut at Northwest Whitfield turned out to be an exception to the rule Friday night, however, as the Longhorns pulled a 14-0 upset at Bruin Stadium.

Longhorns coach Sid Maxwell had his players ready to spoil a gathering of some 3,500 spectators, with only a handful backing the visitors.

“We shocked ourselves,” Maxwell said.

“We have a good young bunch. Since this was our first varsity competition, I didn’t know what to expect. They played every play.

“Teams that execute for 48 minutes will win. [Bruins] Coach [Mike] Falleur is a tremendous coach. We have had many battles over the years.”

An anemic Northwest (0-1 overall, 0-1 Region 7-AAAA) offense never threatened to score. Its deepest drive was to Lambert’s 29-yard line late in the game. The Bruins amassed only 69 yards for the game, with 38 rushing and 31 passing. There were 13 plays for negative yardage.

“It was a shock,” Falleur said of the outcome.

“It was my fault as a coach for not having us ready.

“I know what was in a lot of people’s minds. Yes, a second year school playing its first varsity game. Yes, we were over-confident. They outcoached us and outplayed us.”

The Longhorns (1-0, 1-0) jumped out to a rare 4-0 lead behind two first half safeties.

On their opening series, the Bruins attempted a punt from their own 18, but punter Cameron Smith had the snap go through his hands and into the end zone for Lambert’s first points.

Early in the second quarter, quarterback Silas Ledford was sacked in his end zone by Matt Ham for the next two points.

On the free kick, Lambert returned the ball to Northwest’s 36. An eight-play scoring drive resulted.

The key play was David Broadus’ 23-yard pass to Zach Schlossher down to the 1. Broadus sneaked into paydirt on the next snap.

John Pickering’s point after boosted the Longhorns out to an 11-0 lead with 7:01 remaining before the half.

That score held until the 4:53 mark in the final quarter, when Lambert recovered a Northwest fumble at the Bruins’ 20 and tacked on a Pickering 33-yard field goal.

Lambert finished with 104 yards of total offense, with 69 rushing and 35 passing. Nathan Litras had 36 yards on six carries.