SOUTH WHITLEY - A mainstay on Whitko's sidelines for nearly a quarter-century, Wildcat football coach Bryan Sprunger describes himself as a litte old school.

On a cold November Wednesday afternoon, two days before a sectional championship game at Ryan Huff Memorial Stadium with visiting Norwell, Sprunger's team only practices for an hour-and-a-half because he believes if you can't do something by this time of the season you won't.

His command to his team is simple, "do the simple things, and do them well."

And so for 22 years now Sprunger's teams have done the simple things - run the ball, block and tackle - and it's produced 129 wins for the South Adams High School and Indiana State University grad.

The Wildcats (7-4) host Norwell (5-6) Friday at 7 p.m. in the championship game of Class 3A Sectional 20. The winner advances to next week's regional title game to play the winner of 3A Sectional 19, which pits NorthWood (8-3) against South Bend St. Joe (8-3).

"It still comes down to blocking and tackling," said Sprunger, whose Wildcats are looking for their second sectional championship in school history.

The Wildcats' only sectional title came in 1986, the year Sprunger and Co. ran the tournament table and won the 2A state championship.

Since then, Whitko has played in the sectional championship game in 1995 and 1998, falling to Fort Wayne Harding and NorthWood, respectively.

In his long tenure at Whitko, little has changed, certainly one thing that has remained the same is that the Wildcats are a running football team.

In 1986, Jeff Larsen carried the ball and the Wildcats to a state championship.

In 1995, the duo of Arrick Custer and Neil Hodges pounded out yard after yard on the ground, leading Whitko to an 8-3 record and a near upset of Harding before falling 23-15 in the sectional championship.

In 1998, it was Seth Slater running wild for the 'Cats, becoming the school's all-time rushing leader.

In his 20-plus year tenure at Whitko, Sprunger has been blessed with some good running backs, and this year is no different.

"There's an old college coach that said 'to pass is fun, to win you run'," Sprunger said. "We've adopted that philosophy, and we've had some good backs the last 20 years. "Occasionally, we've had a quarterback to throw the ball, but I'm still old school."

Sprunger's being old school led to something new for the Wildcats this year.

For the first time in school history, two backs have gained over 1,000 yards rushing.

Entering Friday's sectional championship game with Norwell, senior halfback Brandon Waterson has 168 carries for 1,270 yards and 13 touchdowns with just two fumbles. He averages 115 yards per game and 7.6 yards per carry.

Complimenting him is junior fullback Tyler Wilkinson, who in 11 games so far has 197 carries for 1,199 yards and 12 touchdowns. He averages 109 yards per game, 6.1 yards per carry, and hasn't fumbled the ball all year.

"We knew we had some talented backs," Sprunger said. "Our offensive line has really improved as the year has gone on. Tyler and Brandon really compliment each other, and the offensive line has really stepped up. We're going to try and establish the run between tackles and try and strike off that."

The fact that Whitko has two rushing threats has been a blessing this postseason for Sprunger and a nightmare for opposing defenses.

In the sectional opener against Fort Wayne Concordia, Cadet running back Brian Payton rushed for 300 yards in the first half, but when all was said and done Waterson and Wilkinson combined for 400 yards and the Wildcat defense held Payton to just 30 yards in the second half.

In last week's narrow 22-19 win over New Haven, Waterson and Wilkinson combined for 219 yards on the ground, none more important than the 75 Waterson had on the winning touchdown trot.

New Haven's Mike Morrison rushed for 325 yards against Whitko, yet it was the Wildcats' bend but don't break defense that again complimented its running game.

"We've stressed to the kids bend but don't break," Sprunger said. "Our defense really has played pretty good, we gave up four big plays to Payton but shut him down in the second half. Last week Morrison had three touchdown carries for 160 yards, but our defense was still played well. We're in pretty good shape right now. The biggest thing is we don't have any injuries, but we've had some bronchitis or whatever you want to call it."

After ending the season of two premiere rushers (Payton and Morrison) the past two weeks, Whitko has the chance to do so again this week.

Norwell's offense is spearheaded by 6-foot, 210-pound quarterback Jason Schortgen.

In last week's win over Fort Wayne Luers, who was trying to reach the state finals for the fifth straight year, Schortgen ran for 195 yards and three touchdowns.

"This has been a fun group," Sprunger said of this year's Wildcats. "They've improved as the year has gone on. You get a lot of satisfaction as a staff when a team can improve each week as the season goes on."

So on a day when the leaves have all but fallen off the trees around Whitko's practice field and the sun offers little warmth, Sprunger is talking about growth.

About the growth of his team, how his defense has improved and how his talented backfield has grown this year.

Maybe Friday night he'll be talking about a growing trophy collection. [[In-content Ad]]