Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
LIGONIER -Ê"We rock," yelled the senior cheer block from Whitko High School as the Wildcats trampled over the West Noble Chargers 44-22 Friday.
Rock is exactly what the Wildcats did as they tallied 413 rushing yards in the game. West Noble rushed for just 93 yards.
The Wildcats rushed the football 62 times and fumbled it away only once.
"You've got to give our offensive line some credit, they did a great job," Whitko coach Bryan Sprunger said.
The Chargers did not go down easily in the first half because of the speed and superior blocks of their special teams unit.
West Noble's Rick Johnson returned the opening kickoff for 90 yards and a touchdown to put the Chargers up by six only 13 seconds into the game.
But the Wildcats roared back down the field to the 4-yard line on a drive led by senior quarterback Ben Mohr.
Mohr then threw an interception at the 2-yard line.
Some might say that the interception was bittersweet, because two plays later, Whitko senior Josh Keel sacked West Noble quarterback Charley Gabet for a safety.
After receiving the free kick, the Wildcats took the ball to the end zone and took the lead from West Noble.
The unsung hero of the game, Keel started off the second quarter with a 37-yard run to set up one of five touchdowns by Seth Slater.
Josh Gonzalez then returned a punt return 80 yards to the 5-yard line. Keel then rushed five yards to score the touchdown.
"Keel ran extremely hard tonight to help us," Sprunger said.
Perhaps the most interesting statistic of the night occurred when Josh Gonzalez and Seth Slater both passed 1,000 rushing yards.
This was the first time in school history that two players passed the 1,000 yard rushing mark in one season for the Wildcats.
Nobody but the team knows what Sprunger said to the defense at halftime. But the Wildcats held West Noble to zero points in the second half.
"We're getting better defensively in every game we go through," Sprunger said.
Whitko (6-4) will need a good defensive game as they travel to NorthWood (8-3) to play the Panthers for the Sectional title.
