After watching a 14-point lead disintegrate in the second half, Whiteland calmly got back to work doing what it does best.
Run, run and run some more.
Chase Valentine’s 5-yard touchdown capped a wild back-and-forth tilt and lifted the Class 5A No. 5 Warriors to a 41-35 overtime victory over 4A No. 2 Mooresville on Friday night.
The victory created a three-way tie atop the Mid-State Conference between the Warriors (6-1, 4-1), the Pioneers and Decatur Central.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery"Defensively, with what they were doing, we knew we had to go to our power game," Whiteland coach Darrin Fisher said. "We had to go off tackle, we had to put the ball in the C gap. And when you’ve got an offensive line like we’ve got, when you’ve got a tight end like Max Sullivan that can move people around, when you’ve got sweepers that’ll plant their foot and hit the C gap and a tailback like Chase Valentine — we had to put the ball behind our best guys in the hands of our best guys."
Valentine finished with 203 yards rushing on 27 carries, surpassing the 1,000-yard barrier for the season.
Overtime didn’t seem like a possibility early on, as the Warriors were largely in control for the first two and a half quarters.
Whiteland’s defense made the opening statement with a fourth-down stop near midfield on Mooresville’s opening possession. A little more than a minute later, Chase Valentine followed up a 24-yard run from Jonathan Crowley with a 17-yarder of his own to put the Warriors on the board at the 9:17 mark of the first period.
Following another defensive stop, the Warriors used up most of the rest of the quarter with a 12-play, 82-yard scoring drive. Crowley finished that one off with 29.1 seconds on the clock, scoring on an 8-yard sweep to push the lead to 14-0.
Mooresville responded with a 7-yard touchdown run from quarterback Nicholas Patterson, but Whiteland put together another dozen-play march immediately thereafter to restore its two-touchdown edge. Two plays after completing a 22-yard pass to Dalton Murray on fourth and 7 from the 30, Brant Kunz called his own number and plunged in from the 1-yard line with three minutes remaining in the half.
That was just enough time for the Pioneers (6-1, 4-1) to retaliate, though, as Patterson found Gideon Brimmage from 5 yards out with 6.2 seconds left on the clock.
The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, with Valentine scoring on a 30-yard run up the middle and Patterson answering with a 7-yard keeper. Mooresville then forced a Warrior punt for the first time as the fourth quarter opened.
Whiteland’s defense appeared to return the favor, but the Pioneers drew a pass interference penalty on a fake punt, setting up a first down at the Warrior 33. Patterson found Dane Stevenson over the top on the next play to tie the game for the first time with 8:45 remaining.
A fumble on the ensuing kickoff gave Mooresville the ball back at the Whiteland 21, and it only took four plays for the visitors to cash in, with Patterson scoring on a 5-yard run with 7:27 to go.
The Warriors came back to pull even at 35-35 when Crowley scored from 5 yards out with 3:05 remaining, but that left Mooresville plenty of time to get back upfield to win it. The Pioneers advanced to the Whiteland 13, but a 31-yard field goal try in the closing seconds went wide right.
Mooresville took the ball first in overtime and missed another field goal, setting the stage for Valentine and the Warriors to finish it off.
"We knew we were going to play our best football game of the year tonight," Fisher said. "We didn’t know whether we were going to win or lose, but we knew we were going to play our best football game of the year tonight.
"That’s a good football team that puts you in situations where you’re in a bind, and we just made one more play than they did."
