SOUTH WHITLEY – Sophomore halfback Tanner Hughes capped off an 81-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 45 seconds remaining Friday, giving the Whitko Wildcats a 21-16 upset victory over the visiting Garrett Railroaders. With 1:15 remaining in the game, Whitko was well within field goal range for kicker Jake Nissley, having the ball on the Garrett 15. Rather than running time off the clock and setting up a potential game-winning field goal, the Cats figured to have enough time to stick to the ground game. “Jake was ready to hit the field goal,” said Whitko head coach Wayne Swender. “But, it was just a great effort from everybody. Good team win.” On the ensuing possession, Garrett came awfully close to snatching victory away from the Cats. Starting on their own 35, the Railroaders' Noah Follett connected with halfback Brandon Porter for a 24-yard gain and Drake Landes for 40 yards in which he was brought down to the Wildcat 1 yard line. In what seemed to be a very deflating series that was bound to end Whitko's season, a bad snap for Garrett placed the ball back on the 7-yard line. With no timeouts remaining for either side, all the Cats could do was wait for time to expire. “Seniors didn't want this to be their last one,” said Swender. “They knew that they were going to come out, and they knew that they were going to play four quarters of good, intense ball, and we just didn't give up. We came out in the second half and kept things going.” Whitko's Devin Gerding led all rushers with 156 yards on 14 carries, including a 76-yard TD run for the Cats' first score and lead of the game in the first quarter. Hughes finished with 72 yards on 19 rushes with a score. Quarterback Alex Stoddard completed 5 of his 11 passes for 89 yards, including one touchdown and an interception. For Garrett, Noah Follett connected on 9 of his 18 passes for 234 yards without a touchdown or interception, but did fumble three times in the game. Landes caught four of Follett's passes for 141 yards, as well as accounting for Garrett's lone interception, defensively. Halfback Brandon Porter rushed for 86 yards and hauled in three passes for 67 yards for the Railroaders. In addition, the Cats' victory Friday avenged last year's 42-14 drubbing by Garrett in the semifinal round of the sectional. “I'm proud of the boys,” said Swender. “They played their hearts out. It was meant to be.” Whitko will continue its journey in Sectional 18, travelling to Jimtown Friday. The Jimmies are the top-ranked team in Class 3A and are coming off of a 42-20 opening-round victory over Fort Wayne Concordia.
WHITKO 21, GARRETT 16 G 9 7 0 0 – 16 W 7 7 0 7 – 21
G W 1st downs 16 16 Rushing yds 114 266 Passing yds 234 89 Comp-Att-Int 9-18-0 5-11-1 Total yds 348 355 Fumbles/lost 4/1 2/0 Penalties/yds 2/20 6/37 Punts/avg 3/26 2/31
First Quarter G – Karsten Cooper 25 field goal 7:26, 3-0 W – Devin Gerding 76 run (Jake Nissley kick) 6:22, 7-3 G – Noah Follett 18 run (kick failed) 2:42, 9-7 Second Quarter G – Follett 21 run (Cooper kick) 5:54, 16-7 W – Alex Stoddard 53 pass to Conner Stouder (Nissley kick) 1:58, 16-14 Fourth Quarter W – Tanner Hughes 1 run (Nissley kick) :45, 21-16
