Whitko Outlasts Weather And Vikings
SOUTH WHITLEY – It was a rivalry renewed Friday night in South Whitley as Tippecanoe Valley made the trek to Whitko for a Three Rivers Conference North Division contest. Mother Nature put on a spectacular halftime show for nearly two hours before letting the boys take the field again but it did not phase the Wildcats. Whitko scored once on either side of the weather delay to win 12-0.
“We played much, much harder than we did last week,” said Valley head coach Darin Holsopple. “We bounced back, we fought the entire time. We just didn’t play well enough to win the game.
“I bet Whitko didn’t have more than four plays all night where we didn’t make contact, defensively, within a yard of the line of scrimmage. We just didn’t wrap up. We were in position all night but we didn’t finish tackles.”
Whitko quarterback Garrett Elder made Valley pay on several occasions with his elusive tendencies as the Vikings defense struggled to bring him down most of the night. It was Elder that broke the 0-0 tie in the first quarter with a scoring run. Valley stopped the two-point try to leave the score 6-0.
That first scoring drive was started inside Whitko’s own 30-yard line following an interception by Robby Owsley, he finished the night with two picks. Missed tackles by Valley and steady running from the Wildcats chewed up a lot of clock for the long scoring drive. The issues for Valley, however, were not just about unfinished tackles.
“Not finishing things was the story on the offense too, “said Holsopple. “We were sloppy, we were careless and we didn’t make plays when we had the opportunity. We just couldn’t get any rhythm tonight.”
Holsopple’s boys entered the locker room trailing 6-0 as the officials announced the first of several delays do to lightning in the area. After waiting nearly two hours, both teams emerged from the South Whitley school fired up and ready to play. It was a testament to the boys and the coaching staffs that they remained focused after the long wait. It just happened to be a more worthwhile wait for the Wildcats.
Whitko ran the ball almost exclusively for the duration of the second half, which was not much of a surprise. What was surprising was the Wildcats savvy call on a long fourth down play.
Whitko faced a fourth and 16 in Viking territory and was forced to pass. Elder hit Landon Goff in stride to pick up the first down at the 11-yard line. Two plays later Conner Sherwin punched it in to put the ‘Cats up 12-0. The score held after another failed two-point try. Whitko seized the opportunity, something Valley couldn’t do on the drive before as the Vikings missed a big momentum-swinging opportunity with a dropped touchdown pass.
On the ensuing Valley drive an odd play ended the Vikings chances. Valley quarterback Alec Craig threw a pass that was batted up into the air, Craig jumped up and caught the ball then proceeded to throw it again. This is where Owsley grabbed his second interception of the game. The play was ruled an illegal forward pass but that penalty was declined by the Wildcats, giving them possession with just over two minutes to play.
Whitko fumbled on the game’s opening drive but manged to recover on the pick from Owsley. Protecting the ball has been an issue for the ‘Cats this season, but getting over that initial hiccup and ultimately earning the victory was a big step forward for head coach Josh Mohr’s team.
“Protecting the football has kind of been our Achille’s heel all year,” Mohr began. “If we don’t fumble the football so much then some of these games would be different from our standpoint. It’s part of the game so you just try to keep encouraging the boys after a mistake like that.”
With the win Whitko moves to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in TRC play. More importantly the Wildcats are now 1-1 in the TRC North.
“We keep talking about how losing one divisional game doesn’t mean you’re out of the race,” stated Mohr. “There’s still a lot to play for. There’s still a conference championship opportunity to play for. You don’t know what’s going to happen in the rest of those games. We just reiterate to the boys to keep pushing forward because there’s a lot to play.”
Elder led the offense for the Wildcats with 19 rushes for 130 yards. He was 1-6 passing for 19 yards. Sherwin had 24 carries for 73 yards for Whitko.
Alec Craig had nine carries for 45 yards for the Vikings. He was 3-20 passing for 20 yards. Garrett Bell had 11 carries for 37 yards.
Whitko travels to Southwood (2-3, 2-1) next week for a 7 p.m. kick. Valley (1-4, 1-2) will host Manchester (0-5, 0-3) which is also a 7 p.m. kick.