Harding Cruises Past Wildcats
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
FORT WAYNE - What had been the source of the Whitko Wildcats' biggest strength all season turned out to be the cause of their downfall in the sectional Friday night.
The Wildcats won games this season by taking care of the football. They lost only seven fumbles in their first nine games.
They nearly equaled that in one tumultuous evening.
The Wildcats lost five fumbles to No. 6 (3A) Harding - all in the first half - as they were hammered 55-8 in the second round of the sectional.
"We just didn't handle the football," Whitko coach Bryan Sprunger said. "We haven't had turnovers all year long. We had five total tonight in the first half. Against a team of this caliber, you can't make those kind of mistakes."
Here's how each Whitko possession ended in the first half: punt, fumble, fumble, fumble, punt, fumble.
Here's what the Harding offense did with each possession in the first half: touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, fumble, touchdown, touchdown.
"We try to take advantage of mistakes," Harding coach Steve Cooley said. "If they make mistakes, we need to make sure we take advantage of them."
Harding, a team chock full of senior skilled players, led 42-0 at halftime against a Whitko team with six seniors.
"We talked to the kids about showing some heart and courage," Sprunger said. "It's 42-0 at half, and like I told them, I could stand up here and lie to you and tell you, 'Yeah, you can come back in this football game.' I'm just fooling them. I'm not going to do that.
"I asked the kids to reach down inside themselves and play hard and finish the season strong. I think the kids did that."
Harding ran out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter before the Whitko offense entered the game.
The Hawks needed only four plays to score their first touchdown. Alan Ganaway scored the first touchdown when he used his speed to run around the left side of Whitko's defense for a 17-yard touchdown. Paul Curl kicked the extra point, and Harding led 7-0 only 84 seconds into the game.
Harding kicked off to the Wildcats, who then fumbled the ball. Harding's Robert Brown recovered Jason Gonzalez's fumble at Whitko's 25-yard line.
The Harding offense re-entered, and five plays later, quarterback Corey Moore connected with Johnny Hill on a 14-yard touchdown pass. Curl missed the extra point, but Harding still led 13-0 with 8:37 to go in the opening quarter.
"We start off the football game, we kick off to them and they score," Sprunger said. "Then they kick off to us, we fumble the football, and we're in a hole 13-0 with three minutes gone in the football game.
"That's an awful big hole to get into against a fine football team."
An 11-yard run by Ivory Bryant made it 19-0 with 3:09 left in the first. Ganaway scored on a 5-yard pass with one minute to go in the first. Moore connected with Justin Harris on the two-point conversion pass, and Harding led 27-0 entering the second quarter.
Harding added two touchdowns in the second quarter, one in the third and one in the fourth to extend the lead to 55-0.
Whitko's only score came when junior fullback Keith Starkweather scored on a 3-yard run with 53 seconds left in the game. Jimmy Linn ran in for the two-point conversion.
Bryant (6-0, 215) did his best Earl Campbell impersonation, running through and over Whitko defenders like a runaway train. He finished with 181 rushing yards on 21 carries.
Harding's second-leading rusher, Ganaway, was forced to leave the game with a dislocated finger after he had scored two touchdowns. Sophomore backup Cameron Wims picked up where Ganaway left off, rushing for 114 carries on five carries.
Harding's huge offensive line, led by Qaasim Johnson (6-0, 350), Jamarkus Gorman (6-4, 285) and Curl (6-3, 255), opened the holes for the Harding runners. Harding finished the game with 444 yards, 412 on the ground.
"Ivory did a good job," Cooley said. "Corey did a good job. Our offensive line did a good job. Our defense put us in good situations."
Harding played the reserves for most of the fourth quarter.
Cooley expects Whitko to field a solid team next year.
"Whitko's 7-3," he said. "Bryan has a good football team, but he also has a young football team. He has a lot of juniors. Most of those kids are back next year."
One of the five preseason goals Sprunger and his team set was to get better each week. He said his team did that.
"I still contend we're a lot better football team than we were in the last week of August," he said. "And I think we're a better football team than what we showed tonight. The season's made of peaks and valleys. We kind of hit bottom in the first half.
"We achieved a lot of things. We finished second in the conference, which is kind of like kissing your sister. We made some advances. If we can build upon where we're at and not start over, yeah, we're where we want to be."
Sprunger knows this team will be back.
"In the late 1980s we went 42-8 over five years," he said. "In the early 1990s - 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 - we struggled and played .500 football. Now we went 15-6 over the last two years.
"We feel like we have the program going back in the right direction."
Whitko finished the season 7-3.
Harding, 8-2, meets Bishop Dwenger next Friday. [[In-content Ad]]
FORT WAYNE - What had been the source of the Whitko Wildcats' biggest strength all season turned out to be the cause of their downfall in the sectional Friday night.
The Wildcats won games this season by taking care of the football. They lost only seven fumbles in their first nine games.
They nearly equaled that in one tumultuous evening.
The Wildcats lost five fumbles to No. 6 (3A) Harding - all in the first half - as they were hammered 55-8 in the second round of the sectional.
"We just didn't handle the football," Whitko coach Bryan Sprunger said. "We haven't had turnovers all year long. We had five total tonight in the first half. Against a team of this caliber, you can't make those kind of mistakes."
Here's how each Whitko possession ended in the first half: punt, fumble, fumble, fumble, punt, fumble.
Here's what the Harding offense did with each possession in the first half: touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, fumble, touchdown, touchdown.
"We try to take advantage of mistakes," Harding coach Steve Cooley said. "If they make mistakes, we need to make sure we take advantage of them."
Harding, a team chock full of senior skilled players, led 42-0 at halftime against a Whitko team with six seniors.
"We talked to the kids about showing some heart and courage," Sprunger said. "It's 42-0 at half, and like I told them, I could stand up here and lie to you and tell you, 'Yeah, you can come back in this football game.' I'm just fooling them. I'm not going to do that.
"I asked the kids to reach down inside themselves and play hard and finish the season strong. I think the kids did that."
Harding ran out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter before the Whitko offense entered the game.
The Hawks needed only four plays to score their first touchdown. Alan Ganaway scored the first touchdown when he used his speed to run around the left side of Whitko's defense for a 17-yard touchdown. Paul Curl kicked the extra point, and Harding led 7-0 only 84 seconds into the game.
Harding kicked off to the Wildcats, who then fumbled the ball. Harding's Robert Brown recovered Jason Gonzalez's fumble at Whitko's 25-yard line.
The Harding offense re-entered, and five plays later, quarterback Corey Moore connected with Johnny Hill on a 14-yard touchdown pass. Curl missed the extra point, but Harding still led 13-0 with 8:37 to go in the opening quarter.
"We start off the football game, we kick off to them and they score," Sprunger said. "Then they kick off to us, we fumble the football, and we're in a hole 13-0 with three minutes gone in the football game.
"That's an awful big hole to get into against a fine football team."
An 11-yard run by Ivory Bryant made it 19-0 with 3:09 left in the first. Ganaway scored on a 5-yard pass with one minute to go in the first. Moore connected with Justin Harris on the two-point conversion pass, and Harding led 27-0 entering the second quarter.
Harding added two touchdowns in the second quarter, one in the third and one in the fourth to extend the lead to 55-0.
Whitko's only score came when junior fullback Keith Starkweather scored on a 3-yard run with 53 seconds left in the game. Jimmy Linn ran in for the two-point conversion.
Bryant (6-0, 215) did his best Earl Campbell impersonation, running through and over Whitko defenders like a runaway train. He finished with 181 rushing yards on 21 carries.
Harding's second-leading rusher, Ganaway, was forced to leave the game with a dislocated finger after he had scored two touchdowns. Sophomore backup Cameron Wims picked up where Ganaway left off, rushing for 114 carries on five carries.
Harding's huge offensive line, led by Qaasim Johnson (6-0, 350), Jamarkus Gorman (6-4, 285) and Curl (6-3, 255), opened the holes for the Harding runners. Harding finished the game with 444 yards, 412 on the ground.
"Ivory did a good job," Cooley said. "Corey did a good job. Our offensive line did a good job. Our defense put us in good situations."
Harding played the reserves for most of the fourth quarter.
Cooley expects Whitko to field a solid team next year.
"Whitko's 7-3," he said. "Bryan has a good football team, but he also has a young football team. He has a lot of juniors. Most of those kids are back next year."
One of the five preseason goals Sprunger and his team set was to get better each week. He said his team did that.
"I still contend we're a lot better football team than we were in the last week of August," he said. "And I think we're a better football team than what we showed tonight. The season's made of peaks and valleys. We kind of hit bottom in the first half.
"We achieved a lot of things. We finished second in the conference, which is kind of like kissing your sister. We made some advances. If we can build upon where we're at and not start over, yeah, we're where we want to be."
Sprunger knows this team will be back.
"In the late 1980s we went 42-8 over five years," he said. "In the early 1990s - 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 - we struggled and played .500 football. Now we went 15-6 over the last two years.
"We feel like we have the program going back in the right direction."
Whitko finished the season 7-3.
Harding, 8-2, meets Bishop Dwenger next Friday. [[In-content Ad]]