Wildcats Fall To County Rival Churubusco
October 29, 2016 at 6:32 a.m.
By Ryan Villanueva-
Down by as many as 15 points in the second half last year, the Wildcats roared back and held off Busco 34-27 as then-junior Garrett Elder and then-sophomore Hunter Reed combined for 360 yards on the ground.
Fast forward to Friday night at Ryan Huff Memorial Field, where both Whitley County teams were coming off narrow first-round sectional wins to set a up a rematch of last year’s classic.
This time, Busco made sure it didn’t let any lead slip away.
Junior fullback Garrett Horn rushed 34 times for 273 yards and a score as Busco beat Whitko 20-6 and ended the Wildcats’ season.
Busco outgained the Cats 398-212 in total offense and forced three turnovers in the win. While Horn bowled over several Whitko multiple times, he was not alone as Samuel Richards carried the ball 11 times for 93 yards and a score.
“That’s a good football team over there [in Churubusco],” said Whitko coach Jeff Sprunger. “And our guys have nothing to hang their heads about and they need to be proud of what they did. We played a heck of a season this year, we really did.”
In his final game for Whitko, Elder finished with 142 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Reed was held to 20 yards on 11 carries.
Elder and Reed ended their seasons with 1,786 and 1,152 yards, respectively. Elder recorded 27 total touchdowns and Reed recorded 13 times in 2016.
The Busco tandem of Horn and Richards helped set up an 8-yard touchdown run from Trey Mayer as they opened up the scoring on their first possession of the game.
“That was the difference of the game. They had some big boys that moved us around and we didn’t control that line of scrimmage,” said Sprunger.
The Cats did not advance any farther than the Busco 26-yard line in the opening quarter, which ended on a lost fumble. Things looked bleak for the Cats as Busco scored off of the turnover on a 7-yard run by Richards to put them up 13-0.
In the third quarter, Whitko made adjustments to the defense and the Cats forced Busco to turn over the ball on downs on their first possession of the second half.
Whitko looked to sway momentum back in its direction after Elder found an opening and beat Richards in a foot race en route to a 40-yard touchdown run.
“We came out in the third quarter and we played well defensively,” said Sprunger. “We got the one score in the third quarter, but we just didn’t take enough advantage of the opportunities our defense gave us.”
With the Cats cutting into Busco’s lead, it looked as though it could be a repeat performance of last year’s game. But the Eagles had other ideas.
Just minutes into the fourth quarter, Horn found his way into the end zone, a touchdown that proved to be the final dagger as the Cats couldn’t solve Busco’s run game.
Whitko ends the year with a 7-4 overall record and a fourth place finish in the Three Rivers Conference.
While it was the end for the senior class, Sprunger is looking to start working with the next group and get better.
“After Thanksgiving break, we’ll get back after it and look forward to next year,” said Sprunger. “We’ve got a lot of young kids looking to grow and make this program great.”
Churubusco will face South Adams in the sectional championship Friday. South Adams upset top-ranked and undefeated Woodlan 20-14.
CHURUBUSCO 20, WHITKO 6
C 7 6 0 7 – 20
W 0 0 6 0 – 6
C W
1st downs 21 10
Rushing yds 398 168
Passing yds 0 44
Comp-Att-Int 0-0-0 4-8-1
Total yds 398 212
Fumbles/lost 1/1 3/3
Penalties/yds 3/34 2/15
Punts/avg. 1/25.0 2/38.0
First Quarter
C – Trey Mayer 8 run (Joseph Emenhiser kick) 7-0
Second Quarter
C – Samuel Richards 7 run (kick failed), 13-0
Third Quarter
W – Garrett Elder 40 run (pass failed) 13-6
Fourth Quarter
C – Garrett Horn 2 run (Emenhiser kick) 20-6
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Churubusco, Horn 34-273, S. Richards 11-93, Mayer 6-27, Nash Wood 5-10, Thomas Richards 3-(-5); Whitko, Elder 21-142, Colin Craig 3-(-8), Robby Owsley 3-14, Hunter Reed 11-20
Passing – Churubusco, None; Whitko, Craig 4-8-44 yds., 0 TD, 1 Int
Receiving – Churubusco, None; Whitko, Owsley 2-39, Zach Hewitt 1-5, Elder 1-0
Down by as many as 15 points in the second half last year, the Wildcats roared back and held off Busco 34-27 as then-junior Garrett Elder and then-sophomore Hunter Reed combined for 360 yards on the ground.
Fast forward to Friday night at Ryan Huff Memorial Field, where both Whitley County teams were coming off narrow first-round sectional wins to set a up a rematch of last year’s classic.
This time, Busco made sure it didn’t let any lead slip away.
Junior fullback Garrett Horn rushed 34 times for 273 yards and a score as Busco beat Whitko 20-6 and ended the Wildcats’ season.
Busco outgained the Cats 398-212 in total offense and forced three turnovers in the win. While Horn bowled over several Whitko multiple times, he was not alone as Samuel Richards carried the ball 11 times for 93 yards and a score.
“That’s a good football team over there [in Churubusco],” said Whitko coach Jeff Sprunger. “And our guys have nothing to hang their heads about and they need to be proud of what they did. We played a heck of a season this year, we really did.”
In his final game for Whitko, Elder finished with 142 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Reed was held to 20 yards on 11 carries.
Elder and Reed ended their seasons with 1,786 and 1,152 yards, respectively. Elder recorded 27 total touchdowns and Reed recorded 13 times in 2016.
The Busco tandem of Horn and Richards helped set up an 8-yard touchdown run from Trey Mayer as they opened up the scoring on their first possession of the game.
“That was the difference of the game. They had some big boys that moved us around and we didn’t control that line of scrimmage,” said Sprunger.
The Cats did not advance any farther than the Busco 26-yard line in the opening quarter, which ended on a lost fumble. Things looked bleak for the Cats as Busco scored off of the turnover on a 7-yard run by Richards to put them up 13-0.
In the third quarter, Whitko made adjustments to the defense and the Cats forced Busco to turn over the ball on downs on their first possession of the second half.
Whitko looked to sway momentum back in its direction after Elder found an opening and beat Richards in a foot race en route to a 40-yard touchdown run.
“We came out in the third quarter and we played well defensively,” said Sprunger. “We got the one score in the third quarter, but we just didn’t take enough advantage of the opportunities our defense gave us.”
With the Cats cutting into Busco’s lead, it looked as though it could be a repeat performance of last year’s game. But the Eagles had other ideas.
Just minutes into the fourth quarter, Horn found his way into the end zone, a touchdown that proved to be the final dagger as the Cats couldn’t solve Busco’s run game.
Whitko ends the year with a 7-4 overall record and a fourth place finish in the Three Rivers Conference.
While it was the end for the senior class, Sprunger is looking to start working with the next group and get better.
“After Thanksgiving break, we’ll get back after it and look forward to next year,” said Sprunger. “We’ve got a lot of young kids looking to grow and make this program great.”
Churubusco will face South Adams in the sectional championship Friday. South Adams upset top-ranked and undefeated Woodlan 20-14.
CHURUBUSCO 20, WHITKO 6
C 7 6 0 7 – 20
W 0 0 6 0 – 6
C W
1st downs 21 10
Rushing yds 398 168
Passing yds 0 44
Comp-Att-Int 0-0-0 4-8-1
Total yds 398 212
Fumbles/lost 1/1 3/3
Penalties/yds 3/34 2/15
Punts/avg. 1/25.0 2/38.0
First Quarter
C – Trey Mayer 8 run (Joseph Emenhiser kick) 7-0
Second Quarter
C – Samuel Richards 7 run (kick failed), 13-0
Third Quarter
W – Garrett Elder 40 run (pass failed) 13-6
Fourth Quarter
C – Garrett Horn 2 run (Emenhiser kick) 20-6
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Churubusco, Horn 34-273, S. Richards 11-93, Mayer 6-27, Nash Wood 5-10, Thomas Richards 3-(-5); Whitko, Elder 21-142, Colin Craig 3-(-8), Robby Owsley 3-14, Hunter Reed 11-20
Passing – Churubusco, None; Whitko, Craig 4-8-44 yds., 0 TD, 1 Int
Receiving – Churubusco, None; Whitko, Owsley 2-39, Zach Hewitt 1-5, Elder 1-0
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