For the Daily Journal
FORT BRANCH
Whiteland coach Darrin Fisher and his staff had a plan on Saturday.
It wasn’t groundbreaking, nor was it a surprise. It played directly into what his team does well. But the opponent on the other side of the field had a Division I quarterback, a kid that had received offers from across the country.
If he doesn’t get the ball, Whiteland has a good chance to win. It’s a formula that worked well against Gibson Southern.
The Class 5A No. 5 Warriors maintained a perfect record on the season with a 24-7 road win over the Titans. Whiteland (2-0) held possession for nearly 30 minutes with its wing-T motion offense designed to fool the defense and grind the clock to zero.
The result was a good nonconference victory against a quality opponent.
“Grind up the clock and make sure we kept them off the football field,” Fisher said. “We’re an offense that tries to hit you in different ways. They did a good job of stopping our perimeter plays. When you take those away, you give us something else. We ran the ball between the tackles pretty well.”
It showed from the opening possession. Whiteland went 55 yards in 13 plays to chew up nearly seven minutes before quarterback Brant Kunz took a keeper 4 yards into the end zone.
The Warriors led 17-0 at halftime thanks to plays on the other side of the ball. Gibson Southern drove inside the 10 before getting stuffed short on fourth down. Whiteland went 96 yards the other way, capped by a 42-yard sprint around the right side by Chase Valentine.
The Titans quickly punted on the ensuing possession. Chris Dawalt converted a 27-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter. That swing put a damper on the Titans’ chances.
“We missed some stuff,” Gibson Southern coach Nick Hart said. “I need to do a better job with some schematics (in the red zone). We got a pretty good look on the fourth down but missed an assignment up front. Credit to Whiteland, because they made the play. Last week, we got inside the 30 twice and didn’t score. Today, it was inside the 20.”
Even when Gibson Southern quarterback Brady Allen, a Purdue commit, got the ball, Whiteland made him work for every yard. The Titans were held off the scoreboard until less than two minutes remained in the contest. Allen finished with 171 yards and a score but also threw two interceptions.
Fisher credited the plan from his staff and defensive coordinator John Shelton. The Warriors had no choice but to mix up coverages and force short throws. Their five-man front did a good enough job against the run to keep two safeties deep.
“We wanted to show them different looks and different coverages,” Fisher said. “I thought our kids did a great job of checking in and out of things. We got some good pressure. We mixed it up. You’ve got to keep a guy like (Allen) off balance. If they know what coverage you are in, they will pick you apart.”
Whiteland had less success moving the ball in the second half. But the Warriors still finished with 325 yards on the ground and converted 7 of 12 third-down attempts. Valentine did most of the damage with 153 yards on 20 touches. Landen Wood added a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Jakarrey Oliver also ran hard to gather 64 yards on eight touches. Whiteland averaged 5.8 yards per carry in its victory.
Fisher believes teams should improve the most between Week 1 and Week 2. The Warriors offered that in some areas against the Titans (0-2) and need to continue with Mid-State Conference play beginning next week at Decatur Central.
But Whiteland is playing well through two weeks. After a summer of uncertainty, that’s a positive.
“Every time you get to play football, you celebrate,” Fisher said. “We weren’t sure we were going to, and now here we are playing well.”
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A look ahead at Friday’s scheduled high school football games:
Carmel at Center Grove, 7 p.m.
Perry Meridian at Franklin, 7 p.m.
Martinsville at Greenwood, 7 p.m.
Whiteland at Decatur Central, 7 p.m.
Indian Creek at Owen Valley, 7 p.m.
Oldenburg Academy at Edinburgh, 7 p.m.
Bishop Chatard at Roncalli, 7 p.m.
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