Whiteland’s football team held the ball for just 7 minutes, 40 seconds in the first three quarters (36 minutes) of Friday’s home Mid-State Conference matchup with Perry Meridian.
Normally, that would be a recipe for disaster. In this case, the Warriors were simply too efficient offensively to give their defense a rest.
A kickoff return for a touchdown (Dakota DeBaun’s 90-yard second-quarter effort), a 67-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage and a five-play, 92-yard drive accounted for Whiteland’s first-half scores as the Class 5A No. 4 Warriors rolled to a 52-17 victory.
Whiteland (4-1, 2-1) only ran 15 offensive plays in the first half to Perry Meridian’s 43, but the Warriors’ quick-strike offense more than made up for that gap.
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“We were kind of in a funk there early on, but when you can run (15) offensive plays in the first half and have that kind of lead, and then come out in the second half and get the answer defensively, that’s what we want,” Warriors coach Darrin Fisher said.
The second-half answer Fisher referenced was Trevor Larence’s 30-yard interception return for a touchdown on the opening possession of the second half. It was Perry Meridian’s third play from scrimmage, and Larence jumped the route and ran untouched into the end zone. It gave Whiteland a 28-10 lead with 10:27 remaining in the third quarter, and it effectively ended any chance the Falcons (0-5, 0-3) had of gaining momentum.
Meanwhile, Whiteland’s ground game dominated from start to finish. The Warriors, who attempted just one pass all game, accumulated 472 rushing yards. Jake Perry led the way with 166 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 carries, while Brylar Metz added 134 yards and a touchdown on only five touches. Melvin Taylor had 64 yards and a touchdown on five carries.
“We thought we would be good running on the perimeter,” Fisher said. “For us, a balanced offense is inside-outside, front side of the motion, back side of the motion. When they started to shift and move to the perimeter, we were able to hit the ball inside.”
Whiteland plays next Friday at Class 5A No. 2 Martinsville, which leads the Mid-State with a 3-0 league record.
