SOUTH WHITLEY – While Whitko’s defense will be fairly inexperienced in Friday night’s season opener, the Wildcats will be quite the opposite on the other side of the ball. Back for his third season under center is 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior Alex Stoddard. Stoddard, who is 12-2 while starting at quarterback against Three Rivers Conference oppenents, completed 83 of 135 passes last season for 1,201 yards and nine touchdowns. He also rushed for nearly 500 yards. His experience and athleticism will be key to Whitko’s success this season. “He’s the leader of our offense,” fifth-year head coach Wayne Swender said of Stoddard. “The guys look up to him. He’s a great leader on and off the field. We want him to direct our offense, but he also knows he can’t do it alone.” Friday night’s game with Wawasee is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. and Whitko fans are asked to wear blue and participate in the “blue out.” Other skill position players with ample varsity experience include senior fullback Ian Pherigo, senior wingback Conner Stouder and senior tightend Alex Smith. “Alex Stoddard is back for his third year at quarterback, and we’re asking a lot of him, but we’ve also got a supporting cast around him,” said Swender. Among those with varsity experience that will be in charge of blocking for Stoddard and his supporting cast are seniors Ryan Wiegold and Joey Bowers, and juniors Tyler Hinora and Doug Bollinger. “We’ve got some experience back on the offensive line,” said Swender. Defensivley, the bulk of Whitko’s experience comes from Stoddard (free safety), Stouder (cornerback) and senior Skyler Fugate (inside linebacker). “We know the defense is inexperienced, but they’ve worked hard this summer,” said Swender. “We have a lot of openings on defense. That means some younger players have to step up and get up to speed quick.” Whitko’s varsity roster includes 15 seniors, eight juniors, 17 sophomores and 11 freshmen. “The kids worked hard in the offseason,” said Swender. “We’re making strides and we’re headed in the right direction. I feel like we had a good camp and that we’re headed in the right direction.” Following Friday’s season opener with Wawasee, the Wildcats will host county rival Columbia City on Aug. 24 and open Three Rivers Conference play by hosting Southwood on Aug. 31. Four of Whitko’s first five games will be in South Whitley at Ryan Huff Memorial Stadium. With Stoddard under center, the Wildcats were 7-0 in conference action two years ago and 5-2 last season. Tippecanoe Valley and Rochester shared the conference championship last year with 6-1 records. Whitko was the only TRC team to beat Valley, knocking off the Vikings in the final week of the regular season. “Tippy Valley is the team a lot of people are talking about,” said Swender. “They have a lot of players back. You can’t look past Rochester either, they’ve got some skilled kids coming back. If you look past anybody in the TRC you’re gonna get surprised. You have to respect everybody.”
