BUNKER HILL – Until Friday night, the Whitko Wildcats hadn’t started a football season with a 3-0 record since 1990, when Bryan Sprunger led the ‘Cats. That year, Whitko finished 8-0 in the regular season. This year, after a solid season-opening win over Cambridge City Lincoln and a narrow victory over county rival Columbia City last week, the Maconaquah Braves stood in the way of the Wildcats’ best start in 16 years. Coach Jeff Sprunger, the aforementioned Sprunger’s son, and his ‘Cats made sure the Braves were no obstruction. Senior Garrett Elder rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns, as well as a 25-yard interception return for a score, and the ‘Cats rolled their way to a 36-7 victory over Maconaquah Friday night in Bunker Hill. “We were ready for this game,” said Sprunger. In the opening quarter, the ‘Cats were firing on all cylinders with an attacking offense and suffocating defense. Elder opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run. Later in the quarter, Elder picked off a pass from Maconaquah’s Cody Koebler and returned it 25 yards for a score. Junior halfback Hunter Reed scored his first touchdown of the game after punching it in from two yards out late in the opening quarter. Special teams also made their mark, with Elder notching a blocked punt and junior halfback Robbie Owsley with a couple long punt returns that gave the ‘Cats great field position throughout the game. “I’m a strong believer in special teams, and the emphasis this year for us is that special teams plays make a big difference for us,” Sprunger said. “They can get big swings the right way for us, but also the wrong way. We got some big field positions because of the special teams we put together.” The intensity scaled back in the second quarter, but the ‘Cats maintained a 28-0 lead going into the half. To start the second half, the ‘Cats did not look like the team that had been getting into the backfield or forcing turnovers but still held the Braves scoreless in the third quarter. Maconaquah managed to get on the board early in the fourth quarter to prevent the shutout on a touchdown run by senior halfback Joe Ferry. On the ensuing possession, Reed scored on a 73-yard touchdown run that cemented Whitko’s first 3-0 start since 1990. “It still wasn’t a clean game where we wanted it,” Sprunger said. “We came out and played the first quarter really well. The second quarter we kind of faded, the third quarter we were gone, and in the fourth we showed back up a little bit. We need to find a happy medium and put a whole game together.” Even after a couple messy quarters, Sprunger does not think there should be too much concern. “There’s not anything glaring, but we need to continue to understand that we’ve got to come out of the gate hustling and understand that other teams will adjust to us,” Sprunger said. We don’t need to panic, just get ourselves better.” The ‘Cats return to South Whitley Friday night, as they host the Rochester Zebras and attempt their fourth straight victory. “We’re ready for Rochester this coming week. I’m giving these guys Monday off, we’ll come out Tuesday and be ready to rock and roll.”
WHITKO 36, MACONAQUAH 7 W 22 6 0 8 – 36 M 0 0 0 7 – 7
W M 1st downs 8 7 Rushing yds 211 73 Passing yds 16 55 Comp-Att-Int 2-6-1 6-16-2 Total yds 227 128 Fumbles/lost 2/1 2/1 Penalties/yds 6/50 7/61 Punts/avg. 0/0 4/39.8
First Quarter W – Garrett Elder 10 run (Zach Hewitt pass from Colin Craig) 8-0 W – Elder 25 interception return (run failed) 14-0 W – Hunter Reed 24 run (Elder run) 22-0 Second Quarter W – Elder 61 run (run failed) 28-0 Fourth Quarter M – Joe Ferry 4 run (Ethan Larason kick) 28-7 W – Reed 74 run (Reed pass from Cade Bechtold) 36-7
