WOODBURN – Friday night was an opportunity for the Whitko Wildcats to claim their first football sectional title in 29 years. The ‘Cats displayed toughness and resiliency a week ago against the Churubusco Eagles, but it was a matter of if they could carry that momentum against Class 2A No. 4 Woodlan. The undefeated Warriors had similar desires, lying in wait for 27 years without a sectional championship. Despite outgaining the Warriors in total offensive yards, having more first downs and getting 201-yard, two-touchdown performance from junior quarterback Garrett Elder, the Wildcats fell 22-19 in a thriller of a postseason clash. “In a close game like this, it’s going to be a handful of plays that makes a huge difference,” said Whitko coach Josh Mohr. “We fought for 48 minutes against a very good, big and physical team. I’m sure it was a lot closer than anybody else thought it would be. I could not be more proud of our guys for being resilient and being as physical as [Woodlan] was.” Elder finished the night with 19 rushes for 201 yards, along with his two scores. He ends the season with 171 carries for 1,783 yards and 23 touchdowns. Additionally, sophomore halfback Hunter Reed carried the ball 17 times for 66 yards and a touchdown for the ‘Cats in the loss. He finished the season with 785 yards eight scores on 171 carries. On their opening possession, things didn’t go as well for the ‘Cats as they had hoped. On their second play from scrimmage, Garrett Smiley had the ball stripped from him by Woodlan’s Dontae Williams, setting up a short field for the Warriors. Five plays later, Woodlan scored the game’s first points by way of senior halfback Mitchell VanBrocklin’s 1-yards plunge and a two-point conversion to go up 8-0. The ‘Cats had to answer the call if they wanted to extend their season, and did they ever. Three plays into the ensuing possession, Elder ran 44 yards untouched to cut Woodlan’s lead to a single point. It was a back-and-forth battle between the two squads in the trenches throughout the game, with several drives ending in punts or turnover on downs. “They persistently kept going play after play regardless of the situation,” said Mohr. “They gave themselves a chance to win the game. There were a few miscues here and there, but the kids played really, really hard.” With less than seven minutes remaining in the game, both sides were working with a sense of urgency, so something had to give. Woodlan sophomore quarterback Justin Durkes fooled the Wildcat defense on a bootleg run as he ran 50 yards to extend the Warriors’ lead to 22-13. Still, with time remaining, the ‘Cats refused to fold. As it was done in their first-quarter touchdown drive, Elder raced past the Warrior defense on the third play from scrimmage for 60 yards to make it a 22-19 game. The home crowd fell silent, mumbling to themselves about finding a way to stop Elder. The ‘Cats forced Woodlan to punt with three minutes remaining, giving themselves a shot at pulling off a stunning upset on the road. A Woodlan pass interference call and a 32-yard burst from Elder put the Wildcats inside the Warrior 37-yard line. With time winding down and facing a 4th-and-6, Elder looked for a receiver down the sideline in order to get a fresh set of downs, but the pass fell incomplete. Whitko will lose 11 players to graduation, and Mohr and his staff will not only miss those players, but also the people that they are. “I don’t think I could express it in words how much they have meant,” said Mohr. “It’s not only on the field, but their character off the field. Those guys have put everything on the line as far as the work they put in to get where they are.” The ‘Cats finish the year with a 6-6 record and as champions of the North Division of the Three Rivers Conference. Woodlan will host Winchester, which knocked off previously unbeaten Eastbrook 44-28 Friday, in next week’s regional championship.
