The Whiteland offense pushes a pile that included running back Slate Valentine during Friday’s game at Decatur Central.
Rob Baker | For the Daily Journal
INDIANAPOLIS
In a game that often goes a long way toward deciding the Mid-State Conference championship race, Class 5A No. 6 Decatur Central and its quick-strike offense took a big first step toward claiming that crown Friday against Whiteland.
The host Hawks scored touchdowns of 64, 37, 69 and 73 yards, the last of those on an interception return that halted the Warriors’ last serious threat. They were more than enough to offset No. 2 Whiteland’s more deliberate ground-oriented attack in a 43-29 Mid-State victory.
Whiteland (1-1, 0-1) cut Decatur Central’s lead to 28-21 with 1:27 remaining in the third quarter. The touchdown came off a vintage 11-play, 63-yard drive that ate up 7:11, and ended with a Jordan Palmer touchdown on a pass from Oliver Taylor.
When the Warriors’ Ethan Boone recovered the ensuing onside kick at the Hawks’ 49-yard line, Whiteland appeared to be in business. It drove to the Decatur Central 32 in five plays before Taylor, under pressure on a rollout, appeared to slip as he threw the ball. It landed in the arms of the Hawks’ Kasmir Hicks, who sprinted untouched 73 yards down the right sideline.
The touchdown and a successful two-point conversion gave Decatur Central (1-1, 1-0) a 36-21 lead with 10:19 to play. When Slate Valentine, who had played well up to that point (28 carries, 151 yards), lost a fumble two plays into the Warriors’ next possession, the Hawks effectively concluded matters with a game-sealing touchdown three plays later.
Even more than the big plays, Whiteland coach Darrin Fisher lamented the mental mistakes the Warriors made throughout the game. They were forced to call three timeouts on offense that stalled drives in addition to the two costly turnovers.
“We had plays on the perimeter and we’re not reading blocks right,” Fisher said. “I guess we’re not doing a good enough job coaching, because we continue to beat ourselves.”
Fisher believed a long second-quarter drive that resulted in no points illustrated his point perfectly. Whiteland held the ball for 16 plays and 9:26, from the 2:16 mark of the first quarter until 4:50 remained in the first quarter. The Warriors moved 57 yards during that time and converted a pair of fourth downs to keep the drive alive, but never hit on a play longer than 11 yards and called one of those timeouts before the last play of the drive, an interception in the end zone thrown from the Decatur Central 19 on fourth and 5.
“Our kids played hard, and they played physical, but we didn’t give ourselves a chance,” Fisher said. We just made too many fundamental mistakes. Offensively, we lined up wrong so many times.”
Meanwhile, Decatur Central’s offense threatened to turn the game into a track meet at times. The Hawks scored two of their touchdowns on the first play of a drive, including the first play of the game, when Hicks took a screen pass from Bo Polston and ran it 64 yards.
Whiteland appeared to snatch the momentum with a six-play, 78-yard touchdown drive to start the second half, which included a 34-yard Valentine run where he dragged multiple Hawks defenders 20 yards. Taylor’s 2-yard quarterback sneak touchdown and the ensuing extra point pulled the Warriors within a 21-14 margin, but Decatur Central’s Fa’Rel Carter burst for a 69-yard touchdown run on the Hawks’ next play from scrimmage to expand their lead to 28-14.
Polston finished with 251 passing yards for Decatur Central, completing 11 of 19 passes. Hicks was his favorite target, with four receptions for 150 yards and both of Polston’s touchdown passes. Hicks totaled three touchdowns that combined for 174 yards, including his interception return.
“Offensively, (Decatur Central) put their guys in space, and we were not able to keep them inside and in front of us,” Fisher said. “That’s fundamental football. I’ve been the coach at Whiteland for 20 years, and it’s very rare that we’re as fast as they are. But normally we can keep them inside and in front of us, and we didn’t do that.”
While Taylor completed just 4 of 6 passes and threw two interceptions, two of his completions went for touchdowns. In addition to Palmer’s catch, Zander Hite hauled in a wide-open 28-yard reception in the first quarter that tied the game 7-7.
The yardage totals couldn’t have been more even. Whiteland totaled 392 yards, including 333 on the ground, while Decatur Central finished with 393 yards (142 rushing, 251 passing). That played a role in Fisher believing the game was more closely contested than the score often indicated.
“We’ve got seven weeks to catch them,” he said. “They executed their game plan better than we did. What we practice during the week has to show up on the field on Friday, and I’ve got to find another way to get that across.”
Whiteland hosts Franklin in Week 4.
