Whitko Stands Alone Atop TRC
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
After his team beat Three Rivers Conference rival Tippecanoe Valley 21-14 Friday night in Akron, those were the words coming out of third-year Whitko coach Wayne Swender's mouth.[[In-content Ad]]"This team has really gelled together this year," said Swender, whose team will take a seven-game win streak into its Class 2A Sectional 26 matchup with Bremen.
"We keep talking about when you do things together things happen," Swender continued. "You know that old saying about defense and championships. All year, Coach (Josh) Mohr has done an excellent job with the defense."
With Friday's win, the Wildcats improved to 8-1 overall and 7-0 in the TRC. Whitko, which was guaranteed at least a share of the TRC title after last week's thrilling overtime win at Rochester, won its first outright conference championship since 1990.
"It's neat for these kids to win it outright," said Swender. "It all goes back to their dedication and hard work."
With the seven-point loss, the host Vikings fell to 5-4 overall, 4-3 in the TRC, and will enter their Class 3A Sectional 18 game at Jimtown on a three-game losing streak.
"I felt like our team came out and played hard," said Valley coach Jeff Shriver. "We got off to a slow start, but we had some young guys step up. Unfortunately for us, James Gregory didn't dress because of a calf strain, and we didn't have Brody Andrews out there out for much of the game. Our two leading rushers were out of pads for most of the game."
Andrews, who entered the regular season finale with a TRC-best 894 rushing yards ,was injured on Valley's final offensive play of the first half, a play where quarterback Gus Lukens scrambled and broke free for a 31-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 14-14.
Through eight games, Gregory was fourth on the TRC rushing list with 69 carries for 749 yards.
Without Andrews and Gregory in the backfield, the Vikings were held scoreless in the second half. And a Valley offense that produced nearly 500 yards and scored 39 points last week at North Miami was held to 207 yards of total offense and 14 points by the Whitko defense.
With his team trailing 21-14 in the fourth quarter, Lukens completed a 35-yard pass to Tanner Andrews on fourth-and-14 from the Vikings' 44-yard line.
Three plays later, the Vikings had a second-and-goal situation from the Whitko 2-yard line.
Rather than come away with a touchdown, though, Valley fumbled its golden opportunity away at the 1-yard line. Whitko recovered, ran enough plays to run the clock out and gave Swender a water cooler bath.
The fourth-quarter fumble on the 1-yard line was the only fumble in the game for the Vikings.
Whitko, on the other hand, fumbled three times, but but the ball bounced the Wildcat's way - literally - as they recovered all three of them.
While Swender talked about his defense after the game, a defene that slowed a Valley offense that came into the game averaging 32 points per contest, Whitko's offense was impressive in the first quarter.
The Wildcats scored on their first two possessions, getting a 56-yard touchdown run senior fullback Dakota Harmon and a 5-yard touchdown run from sophomore quarterback Alex Stoddard.
"In the first quarter, we went right at it," said Swender, whose team finished the game with 195 yards on the ground and 106 through the air for 301 total yards of offense. "We've got two good backs that compliment each other. Last week at Rochester, DJ (Fouce) had a good game, and this week Dakota had a good game. But it all goes back to our offensive and defensive lines. Those guys never get their names in the paper, and they fight in the trenches every week. They deserve a lot of credit."
Whitko's offensive line paved the way for Harmon to rush for 146 yards on 20 carries. Fouce, who rushed in from five yards out to score the game-winning touchdown with 9:25 remaining in the fourth quarter, carried the ball 14 times for 40 yards.
Stoddard completed 6 of 12 passes for 90 yards.
For Valley, Wade Cave led the way with 12 carries for 47 yards, wile Jacob Ritchey had six carries for 37 yards, Lukens rushed six times for 20 yards, Andrews tallied 12 yards on six carries and Justin Gunter finished with five carries for 28 yards.
Lukens completed 5 of 6 passes for 52 yards, the majority of which went to Tanner Andrews on the fourth-down-play.
Asked about taking a seven-game win streak into the state tournament, the soft-spoken, straight-to-the-point Swender - who was recognized this week by the Indianapolis Colts as the coach of the week, downplayed the situation.
"We haven't talked about the win streak," said Swender. "We're going to keep taking things one game at a time. We're not counting, we're just going to work hard and prepare for a good Bremen team."
After his team beat Three Rivers Conference rival Tippecanoe Valley 21-14 Friday night in Akron, those were the words coming out of third-year Whitko coach Wayne Swender's mouth.[[In-content Ad]]"This team has really gelled together this year," said Swender, whose team will take a seven-game win streak into its Class 2A Sectional 26 matchup with Bremen.
"We keep talking about when you do things together things happen," Swender continued. "You know that old saying about defense and championships. All year, Coach (Josh) Mohr has done an excellent job with the defense."
With Friday's win, the Wildcats improved to 8-1 overall and 7-0 in the TRC. Whitko, which was guaranteed at least a share of the TRC title after last week's thrilling overtime win at Rochester, won its first outright conference championship since 1990.
"It's neat for these kids to win it outright," said Swender. "It all goes back to their dedication and hard work."
With the seven-point loss, the host Vikings fell to 5-4 overall, 4-3 in the TRC, and will enter their Class 3A Sectional 18 game at Jimtown on a three-game losing streak.
"I felt like our team came out and played hard," said Valley coach Jeff Shriver. "We got off to a slow start, but we had some young guys step up. Unfortunately for us, James Gregory didn't dress because of a calf strain, and we didn't have Brody Andrews out there out for much of the game. Our two leading rushers were out of pads for most of the game."
Andrews, who entered the regular season finale with a TRC-best 894 rushing yards ,was injured on Valley's final offensive play of the first half, a play where quarterback Gus Lukens scrambled and broke free for a 31-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 14-14.
Through eight games, Gregory was fourth on the TRC rushing list with 69 carries for 749 yards.
Without Andrews and Gregory in the backfield, the Vikings were held scoreless in the second half. And a Valley offense that produced nearly 500 yards and scored 39 points last week at North Miami was held to 207 yards of total offense and 14 points by the Whitko defense.
With his team trailing 21-14 in the fourth quarter, Lukens completed a 35-yard pass to Tanner Andrews on fourth-and-14 from the Vikings' 44-yard line.
Three plays later, the Vikings had a second-and-goal situation from the Whitko 2-yard line.
Rather than come away with a touchdown, though, Valley fumbled its golden opportunity away at the 1-yard line. Whitko recovered, ran enough plays to run the clock out and gave Swender a water cooler bath.
The fourth-quarter fumble on the 1-yard line was the only fumble in the game for the Vikings.
Whitko, on the other hand, fumbled three times, but but the ball bounced the Wildcat's way - literally - as they recovered all three of them.
While Swender talked about his defense after the game, a defene that slowed a Valley offense that came into the game averaging 32 points per contest, Whitko's offense was impressive in the first quarter.
The Wildcats scored on their first two possessions, getting a 56-yard touchdown run senior fullback Dakota Harmon and a 5-yard touchdown run from sophomore quarterback Alex Stoddard.
"In the first quarter, we went right at it," said Swender, whose team finished the game with 195 yards on the ground and 106 through the air for 301 total yards of offense. "We've got two good backs that compliment each other. Last week at Rochester, DJ (Fouce) had a good game, and this week Dakota had a good game. But it all goes back to our offensive and defensive lines. Those guys never get their names in the paper, and they fight in the trenches every week. They deserve a lot of credit."
Whitko's offensive line paved the way for Harmon to rush for 146 yards on 20 carries. Fouce, who rushed in from five yards out to score the game-winning touchdown with 9:25 remaining in the fourth quarter, carried the ball 14 times for 40 yards.
Stoddard completed 6 of 12 passes for 90 yards.
For Valley, Wade Cave led the way with 12 carries for 47 yards, wile Jacob Ritchey had six carries for 37 yards, Lukens rushed six times for 20 yards, Andrews tallied 12 yards on six carries and Justin Gunter finished with five carries for 28 yards.
Lukens completed 5 of 6 passes for 52 yards, the majority of which went to Tanner Andrews on the fourth-down-play.
Asked about taking a seven-game win streak into the state tournament, the soft-spoken, straight-to-the-point Swender - who was recognized this week by the Indianapolis Colts as the coach of the week, downplayed the situation.
"We haven't talked about the win streak," said Swender. "We're going to keep taking things one game at a time. We're not counting, we're just going to work hard and prepare for a good Bremen team."
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