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WABASH - The tough pinch of emotions had its grip on Whitko Friday night at Southwood, and in the end, it was too much for the Wildcats to overcome.
Whitko played what will probably be its worst football of the season in the first half in falling behind by four scores to Southwood, but rallied in the second half before falling 27-13.
The Wildcats are now 1-2 on the season and 0-1 in Three Rivers Conference play.
Whitko was hit hard by emotion the past few days, beginning with the death of head coach Bryan Sprunger's mother Thursday. In addition to that news, two football players pulled a Whitko student out of a car accident Friday morning and another player was involved in a car wreck after school. Simply put, the Wildcats were playing with a lot on it their minds, and it showed.
The difference of the level of play in the two halves by Whitko was evident in a quick look at the stats.
• After giving up four touchdowns and 240 yards in the first half to the defending-TRC champion Knights, Whitko allowed zero points and only 42 yards defensively in the final two quarters. Southwood's first four drives in the second half resulted in only 6 net yards, and until the waning moments of the game, the Knights were limited to one first down.
bullet. The Wildcat offense, stagnant in the first quarter and much of the second, ended the night with 335 total yards. Of those 335 markers, 212 came in the second half and an additional 78 were tallied on the final drive of the first half as time expired on the 'Cats. Whitko outgained Southwood by over 250 yards once the offense starting clicking late in the second quarter.
bullet. Southwood scored all its points in the first 14 minutes of the game, and came within striking distance only once after that and never in the second half. Meanwhile, Whitko scored its two touchdowns in span of five minutes and had two drives fail near the goal line.
Whitko assistant coach David Lopshire, who took over most of the head coaching duties for the Southwood game, pointed out the obvious key to the game.
"Emotion is a strange thing," Lopshire said. "Maybe those (death and incidents) were just a little too much for us, at first. We settled down after halftime. We played well - we dominated the second half, and we should have dominated the first half.
"We just weren't ready the first half," Lopshire said. "And that's part of the emotion of it."
In what was billed as an early-season showdown of conference superpowers, Southwood quickly took the steam out of the South Whitley squad.
The Knights drove the length of the field on the opening drive, converting on a fourth-and-9 on a 26-yard pass in setting up Andrew Hanlon's 1-yard touchdown plunge. Just a little more than four minutes into the game, Southwood led 7-0.
The Wildcats stalled on their opening drive, and elected to punt the ball away. It took Southwood just one play - a 48-yard jaunt by Hanlon again - to put the Wildcats in a hole they would never climb out of, trailing 14-0 midway through the first period.
The Southwood point machine continued its barrage into the second period, scoring two more unanswered touchdowns in the first two minutes of the quarter. The Wildcats trailed by a shocking 27-0 count before putting up a fight.
The fight Whitko did put up was a respectable one, though.
Whitko snubbed a Southwood fourth-and-goal as time dwindled in the first half, then marched 79 yards to the Knight 17. The Southwood defense didn't stop that drive; time expired as the Wildcats were throwing into the endzone.
The Wildcats came out swinging in the third quarter, gaining momentum with each drive. Senior Bryan Rose put the 'Cats on the board with 8:11 to play in the third, making the score 27-7. Meanwhile, the defense was doing its job, forcing two 3-and-outs and snagging an interception for the cause.
Whitko made it interesting when senior Jimmy Linn broke free for a 60-yard touchdown scamper with 3:30, cutting the margin to 27-13. Whitko failed to score on its next drive, though, and with its run-oriented offense, time worked against the 'Cats the rest of the way.
Whitko got good performances from its senior-laden team, with Rose rushing 20 times for 145 yards. Linn, with the passing game diminished, rushed for 79 yards.
Lopshire saw positives in the Wildcats club despite the conference defeat.
"Defensively, the scheme will work if we go hard," Lopshire said. We made a couple of adjustments that worked pretty well at halftime. We have build on that. Offensively, it's just a matter of us believing we can move the ball. It's confidence.
"But you can't be pleased with a loss."
The Wildcats have a good shot at evening their conference record Friday, hosting Manchester.
