As Whitko football tries to put some separation between itself and its recent past, at least there’s fleetness afoot to assist with the task.
“We do have some team speed that I don’t think this program’s had in a few years,” second-season coach Brad Sprunger said this week. “That’s something that’s helpful.”
Sprunger, the Wildcats’ fifth head coach in the last six years, took over an 0-4 club on an interim basis last fall following the in-season dismissal of Chip Coldiron. The interim tag has since been removed.
Class 2A Whitko finished 0-10 in 2022 (averaging 3.2 points while allowing 49.4), leaving the Cats just 6-54 across the last six years, with four of those wins coming in 2020.
“We had a really good summer,” Sprunger said of his first preseason in charge. “We had a lot of kids come in, to the point where we had a group we knew was going to be there every day.”
Sprunger says he witnessed encouraging signs at a controlled scrimmage in late June that also included Three Rivers Conference brethren Manchester and host Southern Wells. More recently, he saw positives during last week’s scrimmage against Churubusco.
“I think the kids saw at Southern Wells that they’re better than last year,” Sprunger says. “So that was a dividend for their work and then they got even more excited after that.”
Whitko, which opens Friday night at Prairie Heights, returns seven starters on each side of the ball, though that does include some players who were part-time starters last year, players who have changed positions and several two-way starters.
In fact, eight individuals in all are projected as two-way starters for Week 1, and the Cats remain decidedly young despite all their returnees.
Just three starters are seniors, those three being two-way guys Jack Hill at quarterback and cornerback, Kaden Ciaccia-Long at slotback and strong safety, and Devyn Bradley at right guard and defensive tackle.
Hill completed 25-of-61 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown against five picks last fall.
He’ll be joined in the backfield by junior tailback Trevor Freel, Whitko’s No. 2 ground gainer in 2022 with 270 yards on 67 carries (a 4.0 average). Freel also caught six passes for 70 yards, making him the team’s No. 2 receiver statistically.
Breyden Kirkdorffer gets first shot at fullback, Riley Harman at split end, Guy Howard at left tackle, Isaac Irwin at left guard, Lucas Wagner at center, Ryan Campbell at right tackle and Grady Branning at tight end. Each is a junior except Campbell, a sophomore.
On the defensive side, Irwin returns at tackle after a stellar sophomore season in which he was second on the team in both tackles (70) and tackles for loss (six) on his way to All-TRC honors. He’s the lone returnee among the Cats’ three all-league selections a year ago.
Other defensive veterans include Freel at end after making 36 tackles in 2022 to rank fifth on the team, Landon Smith at inside linebacker after picking up 35 as just a freshman and Kirkdorffer, converting from cornerback to ILB after notching 32.
Howard at end, Harman at free safety, sophomore Colton Jarrell at linebacker and sophomore Preston Furar at cornerback are other starters penciled in.
While Whitko had a couple projected key players opt not to return, there are also a couple upperclassmen newcomers whom Sprunger thinks will make a quick impact in Harman and Ciaccia-Long, a transfer from Warsaw.
“Riley Harman’s a baseball and basketball kid who showed up and has been a nice surprise,” Sprunger said of the junior who will likely punt as well, “and Kaden’s come in as a senior and just wants to play and is soaking it all up. They’re both fast, part of that team speed we have.”
With just 22 players listed on the roster at the start of this week, with a couple more additions possible, depth will remain a challenge for the Cats, though Sprunger anticipates giving younger players a chance early to spell some of the two-way starters.
Whitko’s expected to continue its 4-4 and 4-2-5 defensive looks, and likewise not change much offensively, although one change is Sprunger switching from offensive to defensive play caller, with assistant Joey Busz taking over the offensive side.
What the Cats most want to change, however, are their results. They’re trying to snap a 15-game losing streak since beating North Miami 21-14 on Sept. 17, 2021.
“Our mindset is we want to win every day,” Sprunger said, “and we’re carrying that into being the best we can be in school and life and on the field, and we have some kids who have pushed that. We have some kids we can count on, and they’re starting to solidify some of the other guys. I do think we’re gonna surprise some people and be fun to watch.”