Wildcats Win Their First

CONVERSE - All things, good or bad, must sometime come to an end.

The book of Proverbs says so.

Whitko and Oak Hill's football teams were each hungry for the first win of the season Friday night. The tale of the winless came to an end as Whitko pulled away victorious, stomping Oak Hill 42-7.

Both teams came off overtime losses last week that extended their losing streaks to four games each.

"We carried over a lot of intensity and played with a lot of enthusiasm tonight," said Whitko head coach Bryan Sprunger.

The Wildcats struck early and often, scoring more points than in their previous four games combined. Senior fullback Seth Slater was Whitko's major scoring unit. Slater had 23 carries for 134 yards and four touchdowns.

The rest of the scoring went to junior halfback Jeff Shepherd, who took a big offensive load, carrying the ball 11 times for 143 yards and two touchdowns.

Whitko's starting defense held Oak Hill scoreless the whole time they were on the field. Oak Hill finally scored in the fourth quarter on a 16-yard pass from quarterback Ty Henderson to wide receiver Lance Strange with 8:09 left in the game. The Golden Eagles failed to score the rest of the game.

"Our team is coming along and getting better with every week through every game," Sprunger said.

It's not just the Wildcat offense and defense that is improving. Whitko's special teams dramatically improved from the last four games also. Place kicker Julian Thiel, an exchange student from Germany, went 7 for 7 on extra point attempts after touchdowns.

"Thiel's been with us since the Southwood game and has been kicking really well," Sprunger said.

Ty Henderson, Oak Hill's leading rusher thus far this year, was held to 40 yards on 23 carries. The Wildcat defense allowed the Eagles to gain only 65 yards on the ground and 171 yards total.

Perhaps the lone statistic that Oak Hill held better than Whitko was passing yardage. Wildcat quarterback Adam Wendel threw three passes, completing only one for 34 yards. Henderson, Oak Hill's quarterback, went 7 for 16 for 106 yards passing. Lance Strange was on the receiving end of five of those passes. He caught for 70 yards.

Whitko (1-4, 1-2 TRC) will host Northfield (1-4, 0-3 TRC) next week in South Whitley for homecoming.

WHITKO 42, OAK HILL 7

Whitko 7 14 21 0 -Ê42

Oak Hill 0 0 0 7 - 7

W OH

First downs 17 10

Rushing yards 57-369 31-65

Passing yards 34 106

Comp.-Att.-Int. 1-3-0 7-16-0

Total offense 403 171

Fumbles lost 1-1 2-0

Punts/avg. 1-18 4-35.8

Penalties/yards 2-20 5-35

First Quarter

W -ÊSeth Slater 26 run (Julian Thiel kick good), 49.9, 7-0 W

Second Quarter

W -ÊSlater 2 run (kick good), 8:53, 14-0 W

W - Shepherd 9 run (kick good), 1:47, 21-0 W

Third Quarter

W - Slater 1 run (kick good), 5:12, 28-0 W

W - Shepherd 53 run (kick good), 1:56, 35-0 W

W - Slater 35 run (kick good), 14.2, 42-0 W

Fourth Quarter

OH -ÊLance Strange 16 pass from Ty Henderson (Eric Walden kick good), 8:09, 42-7 W

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing - Whitko: Slater 23-134, Shepherd 11-143. Oak Hill: Henderson 23-40.

Passing -ÊWhitko: Adam Wendel 1-3-0 34. Oak Hill: Ty Henderson 7-16-0 106.

Receiving -ÊWhitko: Brent Goble 1-34. Oak Hill: Strange 5-70.