Already banged-up coming into Friday night’s showdown with Whiteland, the Greenwood football team absorbed even bigger personnel losses against the Warriors, losing top rusher Ethan Haessig to an injury in the second quarter and quarterback Oliver Rau in the third.
The Woodmen fought gamely after those departures, but Whiteland did enough before them to get out in front early and grind out a 35-16 victory in the regular-season finale for both squads.
Defensive stops were in short supply in the first half, with points getting scored on each of the first seven drives.
The Warriors got on the board just 46 seconds in on a 32-yard run by Chase Valentine, but Greenwood got back to within 7-6 moments later on Ethan Haessig’s 29-yard TD scamper. Dalton Murray capped another quick Whiteland drive with a 4-yard touchdown, but Haessig answered again, scoring from 2 yards out with 20 seconds left in the first quarter.
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In the second period, the visitors were able to get a little bit of separation. Brant Kunz found Dalton DeBaun over the top for a 46-yard scoring pass, and the Whiteland defense held firm in the red zone, forcing the Woodmen to settle for a 26-yard field goal from Luke Roscoe that cut it to 21-16. The Warriors responded quickly, with a 32-yard Murray reception and a 22-yard Melvin Taylor run setting up Gavin Lutz’s 2-yard touchdown with 2:09 to go in the half.
"We knew we had to start fast," Whiteland coach Darrin Fisher said. "Anytime you’re playing a rivalry game, we knew we had to come out and start fast, and I think we were able to do that offensively."
Whiteland ran into far more resistance after halftime, getting stopped on a pair of fourth-down conversion attempts and having to punt on the rest of its drives. But with Haessig — who ran for 96 yards on 11 carries — exiting the game after his first rush of the second quarter and Rau being pulled for precautionary reasons after taking a hard hit late in the third, the shorthanded Woodmen had a hard time mounting a comeback charge.
"Our conference schedule is brutal," being the small school," Greenwood coach Mike Campbell said. "We just don’t have the same number of kids that most of the schools we’re playing have. But I was unbelievably proud of the effort, especially in the second half from our defense. They took it on the chin in the first half, and they played inspired football. … First half, offensively, it was as good as we’ve played all season."
An 18-yard interception return for a score by senior linebacker Jacob Phillips helped the Warriors close the door with 2:18 to go in the game.
Murray ran for 97 yards to lead a balanced ground attack by the Warriors, who finished with 289 yards rushing. Kunz completed both of his passes for a total of 78 yards, with a third long completion wiped out by a penalty.
"Balance for us is that difference between the inside run and the perimeter run and then being able to throw the football when we need to," Fisher said. "I thought tonight was a pretty balanced offensive attack."
Greenwood (3-6, 2-5 Mid-State) travels to Madison next week for an opening-round game in its Class 4A sectional. Whiteland (6-3, 5-2), which has won five in a row, has a week off before hosting defending state champion New Palestine in a Class 5A sectional semifinal on Nov. 1.
