SOUTH WHITLEY -ÊTo anyone looking at Whitko's 3-7 football record, it doesn't seem like anything to shout about. But to coach Bryan Sprunger, it's a good sign.

"It would have been easy at times to back out and give up," said Sprunger, "but it says a lot about these kids that they stuck with it and worked hard to get better."

After losing its first five games by an average of nearly 26 points each, Whitko has bounced back to win three of its last five games and outscore opponents 179-104.

"Let's divide the season in halves," said Sprunger, "We were 0-5 in the first half, but we're 3-2 in the second half. The difference between the two is that we were not competing at times in the early part of the season. In the second half we are 3-2, and the two games we lost, we were able to compete. Against Rochester and Tippecanoe Valley, we played with them until the end.

"What has led to that is the fact that we are not making the horrible mistakes we were making early in the season. We are not turning the ball over deep in our own territory, and we are giving our defense more of a chance. The Wawasee game is a classic example of that. During one stretch there, we turned the ball over three or four times. We struggled with recovering better from that.

"Now we are recovering better and responding to challenges better."

The Wildcats look to seniors Brent Goble and Adam Wendel for leadership. Goble leads Whitko's ground attack with 78 carries for 613 yards (7.9 yards per carry). He is also a leading receiver for Whitko with 269 yards on 10 receptions (26.9 yards per catch).

"Brent does a nice job for us," said Sprunger. "As a senior, he is making plays for us. He makes some big plays for us and helps swing the momentum our way."

Wendel, the Wildcat signal caller, is 49-of-100 passing for 878 yards and nine touchdowns. Wendel and Brad Walpole, a sophomore reserve quarterback, have combined to break a record this season as well.

"Wendel and Walpole combined to throw for over 1,000 yards," said Sprunger. "That's the highest ever for a Whitko team."

Whitko has worked this season to create a more balanced offensive plan. With three Wildcats rushing for around 500 yards each and two quarterbacks combining for 1,000 yards, Sprunger thinks they have been successful in that respect.

"One strength we have offensively this year is that we are diverse," said Sprunger. "We've got three backs, Brent Goble, Alan Robbins and Burl Haywood, with close to or over 500 yards. That running game has allowed us to complete more passes this year as well.

"When a team plays us, they cannot concentrate on just one person. Along with our three backs, we have three receivers who are pretty close as well. Adam Hall, Alex Frantz and Goble have all caught several passes for us."

The Wildcats have improved on the defensive side of the football as well.

"Defensively, the kids have come a long away," said Sprunger. "We are getting better as the year goes on, and I hope we continue to get better."

With all of Whitko's improvements, Sprunger is still guarded and honest with his evaluation of the team.

"A great football team we're not, but we are close to being a good one," he said. "Some of that is mental. We still need to work on executing at crunch time when the game is on the line."

Whitko, a young team that starts several sophomores, is looking to show its improvement when the Wildcats face 5-5 Lakeland in the sectional semifinal.

But that 5-5 record may be deceiving. Lakeland plays a tough schedule, facing opponents like East Noble, West Noble, Central Noble and Angola, to name a few.

The Lakers also have a formidable weapon in Drew Leer. Leer gained 1,715 yards on 282 carries this season. He has caught five passes for 52 yards as well. Those yards have been good enough to earn 19 touchdowns as well.

"We are going to try to slow down Drew Leer, their 1,700-yard rusher," said Springer. "No one is going to be able to stop him, but we don't want to give him big plays. We want to make him earn his yardage."

Lakeland will also look to split-end Maurice Satterfield to pick up some yardage. Satterfield has caught 21 passes for 430 yards and rushed for 65 yards as well.

"Maurice Satterfield is another big person for them," said Sprunger. "He will be another player for us to watch beacuse he is definitely capable of making big plays for them."

Lakeland coach Rex Bowser also sees some other strengths as well.

"We have played pretty well against the pass this year," said Bowser. "Offensively, our strength is primarily running the ball."

However, Lakeland has at least one Achilles' heel.

"The quarterback spot has been a problem for us this year," said Bowser. "In the fifth game of the season we lost our quarterback with a broken collarbone. We have been struggling with that, and we have been struggling with a lot of inconsistency at that spot."

The Wildcats and the Lakers will battle at 7:30 p.m. Friday in South Whitley.

2000 3A FOOTBALL SECTIONAL

Lakeland at Whitko

7:30 p.m. Friday

LAKELAND LAKERS

Coach:ÊRex Bowman

Record:Ê5-5

Lakeland scores (home teams in caps)

Lakeland 56, SB Adams 0

East Noble 42, Lakeland 0

Lakeland 40, Prairie Heights 7

West Noble 27, Lakeland 26 OT

Lakeland 42, Angola 14

Lakeland 21, Fairfield 14

Garrett 13, Lakeland 7 (OT)

SB St. Joe 27, Lakeland 14

Central Noble 20, Lakeland 18

Sectional

Lakeland 34, Concordia 13

Lakeland leaders

Rushing (carries-yard, per game average) -ÊDrew Leer 120-1715, (171.5); B.J. Kerns 22-123 (12.3); Brody Duncan 29-103 (10.3); Ben Miller 33-101 (10.1); Jon Micken 21-146 (14.6)

Passing -ÊBrody Duncan 18-359-4, (41.9%) 359 yards; John Vander Roest 22-66-6 (33.3%) 414 yards

Receiving (catches-yards, per game average) -ÊMaurice Satterfield 21-430 (43.0); Anthony Howard 9-252 (25.2); Drew Leer 5-52 (5.2)

Touchdowns -ÊDrew Leer 19, Maurice Satterfield 2, B.J. Kerns 2, Jon Mickem 2

Punts (attempts-yards, average) -ÊN/A

Punt returns (attempts-yards, average) -ÊN/A

Kick returns (attempts-yards, average) -ÊN/A

Tackles -ÊJon Mickem 20, Ben Miller 20, B.J. Kerns 16, Maurice Satterfield 15, Drew Leer 14

Sacks -ÊJon Mickem 13, Drew Leer 4, Ben Miller 2

Interceptions -ÊMaurice Satterfield 2, B.J. Kerns 2, Ryan Miller 1

Fumble Recoveries -ÊJon Micken 4, Ben Miller 3, Maurice Satterfield 2, Drew Leer 2, B.J. Kerns 2

----------

WHITKO WILDCATS

Coach -ÊBryan Sprunger

Record -Ê3-7

Whitko scores (home team in caps)

WAWASEE 42, Whitko 22

Columbia City 36, WHITKO 16

Southwood 28, WHITKO 6

MANCHESTER 27, Whitko 0

Oak Hill 56, WHITKO 16

Whitko 42, Northfield 7*

WHITKO 52, North Miami 22

ROCHESTER 37, Whitko 22

TIPPECANOE VALLEY 27, Whitko 16

Sectional

WHITKO 47, FW Elmhurst 11

*at RCA Dome

Whitko leaders

Rushing (carries-yard, per game average) -ÊBrent Goble 78-613 (61.3), Alan Robbins 69-495 (49.5), Burl Haywood 79-466 (46.6)

Passing -ÊAdam Wendel 49-100-7, (49%) 878 yards, 9 touchdowns; Brad Walpole 10-26-0, (39%) 182 yards, 2 touchdowns

Receiving (catches-yards, per game average) -ÊAdam Hall 18-368 (36.8); Alex Frantz 13-182 (18.2); Brent Goble 10-269 (26.9)

Touchdowns -ÊBrent Goble 9, Burl Haywood 9

Punts (attempts-yards, average) -ÊBurl Haywood 43-1,685, 39.2

Punt returns (attempts-yards, average) -ÊN/A

Kick returns (attempts-yards, average) -ÊN/A

Tackles -ÊN/A

Sacks -ÊN/A

Interceptions -ÊBrett Lukens 3, Brent Goble 1, Ryan Jackson 1, Dustin Boardman 1

Fumble recoveries -ÊJames DeLaCruz 3 [[In-content Ad]]