Wildcats Hang On For Homecoming Win
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SOUTH WHITLEY - The electricity was in the air as the Whitko Wildcats took the field for their 2005 homecoming game.
The Wildcats held on for a 28-21 win over the Northfield Norsemen.
The Wildcat defense appeared to be in for a long night as Northfield scored the first touchdown of the game. The long drive was capped bye a one yard run by quarterback Braden Birk. On the next drive Randy Wilkinson gave the Wildcats the lead when he recovered a fumble.
"Our kids played hard tonight. The defense made some mistakes, but they held on when they had to," said Coach Bryan Sprunger.
Neither team moved the ball down the field until late in the second quarter. On the Wildcats last drive of the quarter they took a 14-7 lead when Tyler Elder ran for a 25 yard touchdown run. Elder finished the game with 142 yards on 15 carries.
Northfield tied the game before halftime on a 41-yard score by Birk, along with the two point conversion. "I don't know how many yards they gained in the first half, but we kept them from scoring any more. Our offensive line did a good job as well," Coach Sprunger added.
The third quarter provided some excitement for the Wildcat crowd. The defense held Northfield and forced them to punt. On the first play Elder was dropped in the backfield for a one yard loss. On the very next play Casey Boggs threw the ball to Justin Kurtz over the middle and Kurtz outraced the defense for a 70 yard touchdown.
Three plays later Nortfield again tied the score at 21-21 on a 63-yard run by Birk.
Whitko got the ball back with 4:22 remaining in the third quarter that proved to be the winning drive.
Three plays in the fourth Kaleb Swender scored from the five yard line. With extra point they took a 28-21 lead. During the winning drive, Whitko had three tries to gain one yard for the first down. On the third attempt they rushed for the first down to set up the Swender score.
"We got a hard victory tonight. We have had some injuries this year and the kids keep coming back. Elder did a great job running the ball tonight. Once again our offensive line did a good job," Coach Sprunger said.
On the last drive of the game Northfield reached the Wildcat nine. With 2:06 remaining in the game the Whitko defense broke up a pass play by Northfield on a fourth and goal. The win moves the Wildcats to 3-1 in conference play.
"We won an important conference game tonight. We travel to North Miami next week for another tough game. We are still in the hunt. Every game for us now will be important," Coach Sprunger said.
Strandlund provided a nice change of pace for the Wildcats in the run game as he finished with 68 yards on just 10 carries.
Boggs was effective if not spectacular going 4 of 7 for 84 yards and no interceptions.
Boggs also logged eight rushes for 21 yards with a long of 16 highlighting his night on the ground.
Whitko was able to come out with the win against a much improved Northfield squad desptie the fact the Norsemen outgained the Wildcats 358 to 312.
The Wildcats also overcame five fumbles with two of them being recovered by Northfield.
Both teams struggled with penalties as the Three Rivers Conference schools combined for 13 penalties that racked up a total of 105 yards.
WHITKO 28, NORTHFIELD 21
Northfield 7 7 7 0 - 21
Whitko 7 7 7 7 - 28
N W
First downs 16 13
Rushing yards 46-333 44-228
Passing yards 25 84
Comp.-Att.-Int. 4-6-0 4-7-0
Total offense 358 312
Fumbles/lost 0-0 5-2
Punts/avg. 3-29.3 1-31
Penalties/yards 6-55 7-50
First Quarter
N -ÊBraden Birk 1 run (kick failed) 6-0
W - Randy Wilkinson fumble recovery (Doru Aldea kick) 2:40, 7-6
Second Quarter
NF -ÊBrik 41 run (Birk pass to Stuart Jones) 3:35, 14-7
W - Tyler Elder 25 run (Aldea kick) 2:06, 14-14
Third Quarter
W -ÊCasey Boggs 69 pass to Justin Kurtz (Aldea kick) 5:36, 21-14
N -ÊBirk 63 run (Andy Culver kick) 4:28, 21-21
Fourth Quarter
W -ÊKaleb Swender 5 run (Aldea kick) 10:46, 28-21
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Whitko, Tyler Elder 16-132, Matt Strandlund 10-68, Casey Boggs 8-21, Kaleb Swender 2-9, James Smith 2-(-2)
Passing - Whitko, Boggs 4-7-84 1 TD, 0 INT
Receiving - Whitko, Justin Kurtz 1-69, Swender 1-13, Strandlund 1-9, Tom Yeager 1-3 [[In-content Ad]]
SOUTH WHITLEY - The electricity was in the air as the Whitko Wildcats took the field for their 2005 homecoming game.
The Wildcats held on for a 28-21 win over the Northfield Norsemen.
The Wildcat defense appeared to be in for a long night as Northfield scored the first touchdown of the game. The long drive was capped bye a one yard run by quarterback Braden Birk. On the next drive Randy Wilkinson gave the Wildcats the lead when he recovered a fumble.
"Our kids played hard tonight. The defense made some mistakes, but they held on when they had to," said Coach Bryan Sprunger.
Neither team moved the ball down the field until late in the second quarter. On the Wildcats last drive of the quarter they took a 14-7 lead when Tyler Elder ran for a 25 yard touchdown run. Elder finished the game with 142 yards on 15 carries.
Northfield tied the game before halftime on a 41-yard score by Birk, along with the two point conversion. "I don't know how many yards they gained in the first half, but we kept them from scoring any more. Our offensive line did a good job as well," Coach Sprunger added.
The third quarter provided some excitement for the Wildcat crowd. The defense held Northfield and forced them to punt. On the first play Elder was dropped in the backfield for a one yard loss. On the very next play Casey Boggs threw the ball to Justin Kurtz over the middle and Kurtz outraced the defense for a 70 yard touchdown.
Three plays later Nortfield again tied the score at 21-21 on a 63-yard run by Birk.
Whitko got the ball back with 4:22 remaining in the third quarter that proved to be the winning drive.
Three plays in the fourth Kaleb Swender scored from the five yard line. With extra point they took a 28-21 lead. During the winning drive, Whitko had three tries to gain one yard for the first down. On the third attempt they rushed for the first down to set up the Swender score.
"We got a hard victory tonight. We have had some injuries this year and the kids keep coming back. Elder did a great job running the ball tonight. Once again our offensive line did a good job," Coach Sprunger said.
On the last drive of the game Northfield reached the Wildcat nine. With 2:06 remaining in the game the Whitko defense broke up a pass play by Northfield on a fourth and goal. The win moves the Wildcats to 3-1 in conference play.
"We won an important conference game tonight. We travel to North Miami next week for another tough game. We are still in the hunt. Every game for us now will be important," Coach Sprunger said.
Strandlund provided a nice change of pace for the Wildcats in the run game as he finished with 68 yards on just 10 carries.
Boggs was effective if not spectacular going 4 of 7 for 84 yards and no interceptions.
Boggs also logged eight rushes for 21 yards with a long of 16 highlighting his night on the ground.
Whitko was able to come out with the win against a much improved Northfield squad desptie the fact the Norsemen outgained the Wildcats 358 to 312.
The Wildcats also overcame five fumbles with two of them being recovered by Northfield.
Both teams struggled with penalties as the Three Rivers Conference schools combined for 13 penalties that racked up a total of 105 yards.
WHITKO 28, NORTHFIELD 21
Northfield 7 7 7 0 - 21
Whitko 7 7 7 7 - 28
N W
First downs 16 13
Rushing yards 46-333 44-228
Passing yards 25 84
Comp.-Att.-Int. 4-6-0 4-7-0
Total offense 358 312
Fumbles/lost 0-0 5-2
Punts/avg. 3-29.3 1-31
Penalties/yards 6-55 7-50
First Quarter
N -ÊBraden Birk 1 run (kick failed) 6-0
W - Randy Wilkinson fumble recovery (Doru Aldea kick) 2:40, 7-6
Second Quarter
NF -ÊBrik 41 run (Birk pass to Stuart Jones) 3:35, 14-7
W - Tyler Elder 25 run (Aldea kick) 2:06, 14-14
Third Quarter
W -ÊCasey Boggs 69 pass to Justin Kurtz (Aldea kick) 5:36, 21-14
N -ÊBirk 63 run (Andy Culver kick) 4:28, 21-21
Fourth Quarter
W -ÊKaleb Swender 5 run (Aldea kick) 10:46, 28-21
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Whitko, Tyler Elder 16-132, Matt Strandlund 10-68, Casey Boggs 8-21, Kaleb Swender 2-9, James Smith 2-(-2)
Passing - Whitko, Boggs 4-7-84 1 TD, 0 INT
Receiving - Whitko, Justin Kurtz 1-69, Swender 1-13, Strandlund 1-9, Tom Yeager 1-3 [[In-content Ad]]