SOUTH WHITLEY - In Bryan Sprunger's words, it's the horses that make the ponies go.
Sprunger, entering his 26th season as the head football coach at Whitko High School, was referring to offensive and defensive linemen.
It's those players in the trenches that often play a large role in the outcome of a football game, yet rarely get the credit they deserve."We lost all of our linemen from last year," said Sprunger, who enters this season with a career record of 137-117. "That's where we really need to grow at. It's the horses that make the ponies go. It's not an easy place to play (on the line). People think it is, but it's not. It's a very important position, and they don't always get the credit they deserve."
The Wildcats enter the 2007 campaign after posting an overall mark of 4-6 last season and a record of 4-3 against Three Rivers Conference opponents.
Whitko hasn't celebrated a winning season since Sprunger and Co. posted a 7-5 record in 2003.
Though it sounds like coach talk, sayings or cliches that sometimes seem overused by coaches, Sprunger said the goal for his team right now is to get better every day in practice and to have a chance to win on Friday nights.
"We're a young team," said Sprunger, whose Wildcats open the season Friday at 7 p.m. when they host Northern Lakes Conference school Wawasee. "When you worry about wins and losses, you don't go anywhere. Right now we're concerned with ourselves. We want to grow as a team and get better every day."
The Wildcats enter the season with 34 players on its roster - 12 sophomores, 11 juniors and 11 seniors.
"We're a young team," said Sprunger. "Right now we're a work in progress. We have some kids that played varsity last year, but we have a lot of kids that played JV."
The Wildcats return just two starters on offense, senior split end Trent Rowland and senior fullback Matt Strandlund.
Those that should play a major role on the offensive line - in Sprunger's words the horses that will make the ponies go - are Andy Allender (center), Ryan Fultz (guard), Danny Ruckman (guard), Trevor Wilkinson (tackle) and Malon Kraft (tackle).
"We need to find a unit of five that will work together and make things happen," said Sprunger. "We have to be able to protect the quarterback."
Vying for time at quarterback are sophomore Gabe Starkey and junior James Stoddard.
Others that should help out the offense by running the ball include senior Gus Bouse and juniors Ryan Brumbaugh and Adam Jarrell.
Competing for time at tight end are Cort Walter and Dayne Richards.
Defensively, the Wildcats return five starters, all of which play in the secondary of Whitko's 4-4 scheme.
As for the conference, Sprunger expects Rochester and Tippecanoe Valley to once again be near the top of the standings.
Valley won the conference title last year by going 7-0 in TRC action.
"Two teams that should be good are Valley and Rochester," said Sprunger. "Rochester has everybody back, and Valley has a good number of kids back. I think Southwood could be a sleeper. As for us, we're concerned with ourselves. We want to get better every day and practice. We play Rochester and Valley the last two weeks of the season. Our goal is the same every year, when we get to those game we hope we're playing for a conference championship."
If the horses can make the ponies go, that may be possible.
