The first four-plus minutes of Friday’s showdown against Class 4A No. 9 Mooresville went about as badly as they could have for Whiteland.
The rest of the night was all Warriors.
After digging itself an early 10-point hole, Class 5A No. 4 Whiteland gathered itself and took command, riding its overpowering ground game and a couple of momentum-shifting plays to a convincing 48-30 triumph.
The Warriors (6-1, 4-1 Mid-State), bouncing back from a loss at Martinsville last week, kept themselves in a tie with the Artesians atop the conference standings.
“We had to come back and fight after last Friday,” Whiteland coach Darrin Fisher said. “For 18 years years around here, when our back’s been against the wall, we’ve responded.”
Whiteland appeared to have Mooresville stuffed on the game’s opening drive after a tackle for loss and a sack left the visitors facing fourth and 8 from the Warriors’ 28-yard line. Quarterback Nick Patterson, though, calmly lobbed a pass to Nate Thomas over the top of the secondary for a touchdown.
The Pioneers then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to quickly set themselves up with another short field. The Whiteland defense held firm, but Mooresville still managed to get a 31-yard field goal from Kenny Curry to extend the lead to 10-0 at the 7:41 mark of the opening quarter.
The Warriors answered with a methodical 10-play, 65-yard march, all via the run. A 17-yard dash up the left sideline by Maalik Perkins set up first and goal at the 4, and sophomore Slate Valentine took it from there to get the home side back to within three at 2:50 of the first.
Then, it was Whiteland’s turn to force a takeaway. Patterson tried to keep it himself on third and 1, but he was stood up at the line and the ball came loose. Senior Brady Stanifer recovered at the Mooresville 36, then gave the Warriors a 13-10 lead nine plays later when he hauled in a third-down pass from Kevin Denham for an 11-yard score.
Following a three-and-out and a shanked punt, the Warrior offense immediately went back to work, needing just five plays to find the end zone again. Valentine’s 14-yard run pushed the ball to the Mooresville 2, and Peyton Emberton punched it in with 6:13 remaining in the half to make it 20-10.
Taking advantage of back-to-back pass interference flags, the Pioneers did manage to stop the bleeding before halftime, getting a 26-yard Curry field goal with 1:39 on the clock to cut the margin to seven. Whiteland, though, struck right back, finishing off a rapid-fire drive when Nyrius Moore-Smith went left on a sweep and darted 32 yards to the end zone.
Despite having just 25 seconds to work with, Mooresville got back into scoring position courtesy of two 15-yard flags against the Warriors. Curry ended the half with a 38-yard field goal to make it 27-16.
The fact that Whiteland limited the potent Pioneers to three points on three first-half drives proved pivotal.
“We talked all week long about when you’re playing a good offense, they kick field goals, you score touchdowns, you win,” Fisher said. “That was something that was given to us by a very special person that came to visit us this week, and it proved to be true.”
Neither team could move the chains on its first second-half possession, but Whiteland got a big play early in the third when Jonathan Crowley fielded a low, dribbling punt at the Mooresville 47 and darted his way through traffic to the end zone.
The Pioneers then turned the ball over on downs and the Warriors continued to pour it on, with Denham finishing off an eight-play, 42-yard drive by calling his own number from a yard out. Suddenly, Whiteland was up 41-16 with 3:15 to go in the third.
Patterson threaded the needle on a 6-yard TD pass to Wes Reeves, getting Mooresville within 19 points, but the visitors’ onside kick failed and the Warriors proceeded to eat more than six minutes of clock before going up 48-22 on a 5-yard throw from Denham to senior tight end Cameron Cooper with 6:54 remaining.
The Pioneers added a meaningless touchdown with 2:55 left when Patterson broke loose for a 61-yard scoring run.
Whiteland takes the momentum from the win into Fisher’s favorite — and traditionally his most successful — month of the season.
“It’s almost October,” he said with a smile. “It’s one day away, but it’s almost October. So we’re celebrating this one as October negative-one.”
