MOORESVILLE
One day into the month, the Whiteland football team has already found its October form.
The Warriors meshed a clock-consuming offense with a heady defensive effort and solid special teams Friday night to post an impressive road victory at Class 4A No. 5 Mooresville, 24-14.
Junior back Peyton Emberton carried the football 25 times for 139 yards as the Warriors improved to 2-3 in the Mid-State Conference standings and 3-3 overall. The Pioneers dropped to 3-2 and 5-2.
“I think this is a big turnaround game for us,” Warriors senior sweeper/defensive back Quinn Warweg said. “In October, we get better every day in practice, no matter if we won or lost the week before. Go out on the field and play as hard as we possibly can.”
Prior to Friday, Whiteland’s three most recent football games against Mooresville were decided by a total of 14 points. The latest installment fit right in, with the home squad repeatedly shooting itself in the foot with penalties and untimely turnovers.
Nick Patterson, the Pioneers’ outstanding junior quarterback who was averaging 292 yards passing this season, finished with 230, but the majority of damage was inflicted between the 10-yard lines.
He led his offense all the way to the Whiteland 1 in an attempt to pull Mooresville within one score. However, a botched handoff between Patterson and tailback Hogan Denny resulted in a fumble that was immediately covered by Warriors senior Jordan Vincent with 2:52 left in the fourth period.
Whiteland’s all-junior offensive front of Tayton Schakel, Dylan Kidwell, Josh Merriman, Zach Yaryan and Will Hagan paved running avenue after running avenue to keep drives alive and the football out of Patterson’s hands.
“We talked all week long about three more feet,” Warriors coach Darrin Fisher said, emphasizing his point while holding a three-foot yardstick. “We say it every time we break down as a team. And we have been, the past few weeks, 36 inches short of making plays.
“Whether it’s our defense holding them three feet not enough, or whether it’s our offense getting three feet more. How hard were they willing to work for those three more feet? (Tonight) was the effort that this group is capable of. These seniors were not going to let this one go down without a fight.”
Whiteland senior David Mathis drilled a 22-yard field goal from the right hash with 1.9 seconds left in the second period to give the Warriors a 10-7 halftime advantage.
Whiteland drove to the Mooresville 37 on the game’s opening series, but fell short on fourth down to give the Pioneers the football. Led by Patterson and senior running back Gideon Brimmage, they appeared primed to open the game’s first points.
On second down, Patterson was running the ball up the middle, got hit and fumbled the pigskin. It was smothered by senior defensive back Jacob Smith at the 17.
This time around, the Warriors cashed in, covering 83 yards in 11 plays — including a 23-yard pass from Warweg to junior Jakarrey Oliver on fourth down that took the ball to the Pioneers 6. Emberton covered the rest of it, scoring from 4 yards with 27.1 seconds left in the opening stanza.
Warweg again stepped up huge on the ensuing series, diving to intercept Patterson after Mooresville had driven as far as the Warriors’ 33.
Mooresville did get on the board late in the second, capping a 91-yard scoring drive on Brimmage’s 13-yard run up the middle at the 4:49 mark to tie the score. The Warriors responded by moving the pigskin from their 30 to the Pioneer 5 — the big play being quarterback Kevin Denham’s 36-yard pass over the middle to Smith — to set up Mathis’ boot.
