Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SOUTH WHITLEY -ÊAs the temperature dropped Friday night in South Whitley, South Bend St. Joseph's offense heated up.
Meanwhile, the Whitko offense never seemed to get warm and the Wildcats fell to the Indians 28-8 in the Class 3A Sectional 19 semifinal game.
After taking the ball on their own 29, the Indians moved the ball to the Whitko 47 with a second-and-six situation. Then on the next play, St. Joe's Timmy Coleman broke free for a 47-yard touchdown run, giving the Indians a 7-0 advantage at the 9:09 mark in the first quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, Whitko took the ball on its own 45-yard line only to see senior quarterback Brad Walpole throw an interception on the first play of the drive.
St. Joe took the ball on its own 47, but the Indians fumbles on their first play from scrimmage. Whitko senior Zach Week pounced on the ball, returning possession to the Wilcats at the St. Joe 48.
However, Whitko was unable to capitalize on the turnover, giving the ball over on downs at the St. Joe 33-yard line.
Then with 32 ticks left on the first-quarter clock, Coleman struck again. This time, he rumbled in from nine yards out. After Chris White split the uprights, St. Joe held a 14-0 lead.
Following a scoreless second quarter, St. Joe went to the halftime break with a 14-0 lead.
Whitko took the ball on its own 27-yard line to open the second half, but after just four plays the Indians got the ball again.
With 5:49 left in the third quarter, Mike Ferry ran six yards for the third St. Joe touchdown of the night. Again White's kick was good, and the Indians found themselves with a 21-0 lead.
The fourth quarter saw St. Joe score again at the 7:02 mark when quarterback Joe McDonnell connected with Matt Weldy for a 17-yard touchdown pass. White's kick gave the Indians a 28-0 advantage.
Whitko's lone score came with just 49 second left on the game clock. Walpole tossed a 45-yard pass to Brett Lukens to keep St. Joe from getting the shutout. Walpole then ran the ball himself for the two-point conversion, making the score 28-8 in St. Joe's favor.
O'Donnell completed 6 of 10 passes for 47 yards and led the Indians with 89 yards rushing. Coleman was close behind with 86 yards on the ground.
Brandon Waterson and Alan Robbins led the Whitko running game. Robbins carried the ball nine times for 38 yards, while Waterson had 15 carries for 38 yards. Jeremy Coble and Kevin Feldman ran for 15 and 14 yards respectively.
Lukens led the Wildcat receiving corps with three receptions for 57 yards and a kickoff return for 22 yards.
Robbins had three catches for 18 yards. The senior wingback also had four kickoff returns for 89 yards and a punt return for 17 yards.
Defensively, Nic Sprunger led the Whitko squad with two fumble recoveries. Week and Feldman each recovered a fumble as well.
The Wildcats finish the season with a 7-4 record. St. Joe, 8-3, will host 9-2 NorthWood in the sectional final Friday night in South Bend.
CLASS 3A
Sectional 19
SB ST. JOSEPH'S 28, WHITKO 8
St. Joe 14 0 7 7 - 28
Whitko 0 0 0 8 - 8
W S
First downs 8 28
Rushing 38-91 37-261
Comp.-Att.-Int. 7-24-1 7-10-1
Passing 88 49
Total offense 179 310
Punts/ave. 3-28.3 3-35.7
Fumbles 3-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 3-30 8-71
SCORING
First Quarter
S - Timmy Coleman 47 run (Chris White kick), 9:09, 7-0 S
S -ÊColeman 9 run (White kick), 0:32, 14-0 S
Third Quarter
S - Mike Ferry 6 run (White kick), 5:49, 21-0 S
Fourth Quarter
S -ÊMatt Weldy 17 pass from Joe McDonnell (White kick), 7:02, 28-0 S
W -ÊBrett Lukens 45 pass from Brad Walpole (Walpole run), 0:48, 28-8 S
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing -ÊWhitko: Brandon Waterson 15-38, Alan Robbins 9-38, Jeremy Coble 5-15, Kevin Feldman 2-14, Brett Lukens 1-(-1), Brad Walpole 6-(-13); St. Joe: Joe McDonnell 10-89, Mike Ferry 9-49, Timmy Coleman 6-86, Connor Hay 5-12, Chris White 1-7
Passing -ÊWhitko: Walpole 7-23-88 yards, 1 int., 1 TD, Kevin Feldman 0-1-0 yards, 0 int., 0 TD; St. Joe: McDonnell 6-10-47 yards, 1 Int., 1 TD
Receiving -ÊWhitko: Robbins 3-18, Lukens 3-57, Coble 1-13; St. Joe: Ferry 2-10, Will Hennessy 1-4, Brandon Piechowicz 1-9, Patrick Reardon 1-2, Connor Hay 1-6, Matt Weldy 1-17
