Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
INDIANAPOLIS - Those who watched the first three Three Rivers Conference football games Saturday in the RCA Dome decided by a combined eight points may have gone home disappointed, thinking the Whitko/Northfield matchup would follow suit.
Whitko coach Bryan Sprunger wasn't among the disappointed.
In dismantling Northfield 42-7, Sprunger's Wildcats picked up their first win of the season.
"I'm happy for the kids," Sprunger said. "They've been working very hard. We needed to get a win, and we got one."
Whitko is now 1-5 on the season and 1-3 in TRC action. The 35-point loss drops Northfield to 1-5 overall and 0-4 in conference play.
After the game, with the celebrating voices of his players carrying down the halls that Peyton Manning and Company walk, Sprunger said he was looking for some seniors to step up.
What he got was a 6-foot-1, 165 pound senior named Brent Goble.
After both teams punted on their opening possessions, Goble rushed the ball four yards on a third-and-three play from Whitko's 20. On the very next play, senior siganl caller Adam Wendel hooked up with Goble for a 76-yard touchdown toss at the 7:36 mark of the opening quarter. Goble ran in the two-point conversion to put the Wildcats up 8-0.
On the second play of Northfield's next posession, Goble intercepted a Shawn Smith pass and returned it 39 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead. Whitko's conversion attempt failed.
As if Northfield wasn't tired of Goble already, he struck again.
After Whitko's steel curtain of a defense sacked Smith three consecutive times, setting up a fourth-and-44 situation, the Wildcats took over on the Norsemen's 16-yard line.
Goble rattled off 11 yards and a first down on Whitko's first play of the drive, but was stacked up at the line of scrimmage on the next. On a second-and-goal play from the 5, Goble took the handoff and scampered in for his third score of the game, giving Whitko a 20-0 lead with 2:42 remaining in the first quarter.
"He played pretty well in the first quarter," Sprunger said of Goble, who left the game on a stretcher with 1:35 remaining in the second quarter. "He had a big catch an then an interception. He scored all three of our first-quarter touchdowns. We can ill afford to lose him. We needed some seniors to step forward, and he did."
Playing defense, Goble was on the bottom of the pile and suffered a second-quarter injury that caused him to leave the field on a stretcher. Sprunger said things were done as a precautionary measure.
"He had a pain in his neck," Sprunger said. "Everything's fine, but they wanted to take him to the hospital, so I agreed. They just wanted to make sure everything is fine."
Wendel finished the game with 162 yards through the air for Whitko on 4-of-7 passing with no interceptions and two touchdowns. Reserve quarterback Brad Walpole finished the game with 43 yards on 2-of-3 passing with no interceptions.
Senior split end Adam Hall hauled in four catches for 98 yards, one of which was a 30-yard catch for a touchdown that put Whitko up 34-0 with 5:43 remaining in the third quarter.
Whitko piled up 343 yards of offense, while Northfield was held to 43.
"I felt like our defense got after Smith," Sprunger said. "You give him the time to throw and he does. You also have to shut down the run, which we did."
Smith, who came in averaging 87 yards per game through the air and 60 on the ground, was held to 21 yards passing, completing just 6 of 17 attempts, and four yards on 19 attempts.
Smith was stopped seven times behind the line of scrimmage.
Smith did score Northfield's lone score of the game on a four-yard scamper with 9:04 left in the final frame.
Brandon Waterson scored Whitko's last touchdown on a 22-yard run - on that one Whitko coach in the booth called the most amazing thing he's seen - with 59 ticks left. Waterson then ran in the two-point conversion.
Whitko will next host TRC rival North Miami, which fell 21-20 to Southwood in Saturday's third game.
WHITKO 42, NORTHFIELD 7
Whitko (1-5, 1-3) 20 0 14 8 - 42
Northfield (1-5, 0-4) 0 0 0 0 - 7
W N
First Downs 10 7
Rushes-yards 41-138 30-16
Yards Passing 205 47
Comp.-Att.-Int. 6-10-0 7-19-2
Total offense 343 63
Fumbles-lost 3-2 4-1
Punts-Ave. 1-31 7-35
First Quarter
W - Brent Goble 76 catch (Goble 2-pt. conversion catch) 8-0, 7:36
W - Goble 39 interception return (conversion failed) 14-0, 6:41
W - Goble 5 run (conversion failed) 20-0, 2:42
Third Quarter
W - Adam Wendel 5 run (Gabe Langohr conversion run) 28-0, 8:48
W - Adam Hall 30 pass from Wendel (conversion failed) 34-0, 5:43
Fourth Quarter
NF - Shawn Smith 4 run (Chad McWhirt kick) 34-7, 9:-4
W - Brandon Waterson 22 run (Waterson conversion run) 42-7, :59
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing - Whitko, James DeLaCruz 3-25, Burl Haywood 8-24, Brandon Waterson 1-22, Goble 3-20, Alan Robbins 7-17, Drew Lopshire 8-15. Northfield, Smith 19-4, John Miller 10-12.
Passing - Whitko, Wendel 4-7-162-0, Brad Walpole 2-3-43-0. Northfield, Smith 6-17-21-1, Nathan Culver 1-2-26-1.
Receiving - Whitko, Goble 1-76, Hall 4-98, Anthony Clausen 1-31. Northfield, Smith 1-26, McKillip 2-9, Mike Galley 2-8, Brad Laconfora 1-7.
