MARTINSVILLE
One thing that’s evident for any Mid-State Conference football team is to go for a quick kill and then keep the foot on the throat until the final gun.
That was never more apparent than it was last week for both Whiteland and Martinsville. The Artesians took note.
The kill Friday night came in the form of a touchdown pass and touchdown run in the fourth quarter that put the Class 5A No. 1 Warriors down two touchdowns, something they could not recover from in a 35-21 loss at Class 4A No. 10 Martinsville.
Last week, Whiteland held a seemingly huge lead on Perry Meridian before the Falcons threw a scare in, coming within 10 points before the Warriors scored two late touchdowns to put away the Falcons. And Franklin held a 20-7 lead on Martinsville before the Artesians came back and scored in the final seconds to take victory away from the Grizzly Cubs.
Martinsville found a way to put the Warriors (5-1, 3-1) down.
With Franklin’s upset win over Mooresville, it throws the Mid-State Conference into a quagmire with the Warriors, Artesians and Pioneers all tied atop the standings.
The battle pitted Whiteland’s balance, which included a grinding ground game, against the passing of Tyler Adkins, who had already thrown for more than 1,100 yards entering the contest. Throw in the rushing of Braden Shrake and the Artesians were just as formidable on offense as the Warriors, and they proved it.
“This is a two-part deal,” Whiteland coach Darrin Fisher said. “Number one, (Martinsville) had a great plan and they out-executed us. Number two, Whiteland beat Whiteland, and the combination of a worthy opponent and us making too many errors, you can’t overcome that.
“We didn’t finish drives.”
Martinsville (5-1, 3-1) opened with an impressive 74-yard drive, with Adkins hitting Garrett Skaggs from 26 yards out for the only score of the first quarter.
Whiteland had a drive fail when quarterback Kevin Denhham mishandled a snap at the Artesian 21, which Martinsville recovered. The Artesians drove to the Warriors’ 7, but Zeke Ramey intercepted Adkins.
Four plays later, Jonathan Crowley broke several tackles to take it 59 yards in the end zone to tie the game at 7-7 midway through the second.
A 1-yard touchdown run by Brayden Shrake gave the Artesians the lead again, but thanks to another big run — this one for 42 yards by Maalik Perkins to the 8 — set up Denham, who made amends on his fumble with a 1-yard sneak.
Adkins shoveled a pass to Hunter Stroud for a 3-yard score right before halftime, and for the first time since the opening game, the Warriors found themselves down at halftime.
The Artesians then went for the kill in the fourth.
A 19-yard touchdown pass from Adkins to Stroud and then at 2:53, a 9-yard run from Shrake, who finished with 169 yards on the ground, sent the Warriors reeling.
Whiteland did connect on a 77-yard pass from Denham to Gunnar Hicks, but all that did was pad the stats.
Adkins was 20 of 25 passing for 225 yards and three touchdowns. Denham didn’t do badly either, passing for 175 yards and touchdown. Nyrius Moore-Smith led Whiteland with 69 yards rushing.
“If you’re going to beat a good team, you can’t beat yourself,” Fisher said with emphasis.
Whiteland is at home against Mooresville next week.
