Whiteland football coach Darrin Fisher was concerned about his team being able to maintain momentum during the three-week layoff since it last played on Oct. 9.
Based on how Friday’s Class 5A sectional semifinal against Seymour went, the Warriors did just fine with that.
Chase Valentine rushed for 201 yards and five touchdowns in less than a half of work as Whiteland scored early and often on the way to a 66-0 home win.
The Warriors (8-1) will host defending state champion New Palestine, who pulled out a last-minute comeback win over Franklin, in next Friday’s sectional championship game.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery"We knew we had to do two things tonight," Fisher said. "We knew, number one, we had to come out and play physical football, because we really haven’t hit in a three-week span of time. …
"The second thing we wanted to do was start fast. I think the whole key tonight was starting fast. When you’ve got an opponent that really doesn’t know you … the most important thing is to make an impression early."
The fourth-ranked Warriors most definitely did that in all phases of the game.
Whiteland forced a Seymour three-and-out to start the game and promptly turned around and scored on a three-play, 70-yard drive. Valentine finished off the drive with a 15-yard run at the 10:13 mark of the first period.
That was how most of the first half went for the Owls (3-7), who failed to pick up a first down on each of their first four series. Whiteland, meanwhile, scored touchdowns on each of its first possessions. Valentine added scoring runs of 6, 2, 1 and 57 yards during the half, with the last of those stretching the lead to 42-0 and ending the senior tailback’s night with 7:27 still left in the second quarter.
Valentine finished with 201 yards rushing on 14 carries.
Whiteland went into the locker room with a 56-0 cushion. The Warriors’ other first-half touchdowns came on a 14-yard pass from Brant Kunz to Max Sullivan, a 57-yard run by Desmen Singleton and an 18-yard rush from Peyton Emberton.
Singleton carried just twice before Fisher went to his reserves, but the senior wingback gained 89 yards on those touches.
The Owls helped accelerate the inevitable by turning the ball over three times — a pair of fumbles and a pass that was intercepted by Ewan Niccum — and getting a punt blocked in the first quarter that set up the Kunz-to-Sullivan scoring pass.
Dalton Murray added a 9-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and Chris Dawalt tacked on a 22-yard field goal midway through the fourth for the Warriors.
After the game, Fisher waited on the field alongside Whiteland athletic administrators David Edens and Todd Croy, eager to learn the identity of next week’s opponent.
Either way, he’s happy to have a shot at the Warriors’ first sectional title since 2014.
"It doesn’t really matter who it is or where it is or anything else," Fisher said. "The goal now is to win the sectional championship."
