Whiteland’s Jordan Palmer, top, and Ji’Von Smith bring down Decatur Central’s N’po Dodo during Week 3 of the regular season.
Daily Journal file photo
The best rivalries often tend to be the ones with the longest roots.
In Whiteland’s case, familiarity burrows deep into the history book when it comes to the section of the Warriors’ lineage that includes Decatur Central.
Those thirsting for a quality trivia stumper might be interested to know the Warriors’ 42-6 loss to the Hawks in October 1965 was the 14th football game in Whiteland history. Or that the Hawks won the first seven meetings before the 1972 Warriors snapped the streak with a 28-7 triumph in Week 8.
“I think there’s a mutual respect, and unbelievable competition between the players and coaches,” said Whiteland coach Darrin Fisher, who holds an 8-10 record against Decatur Central teams since taking the job in 2005.
“Two really competitive teams, and that’s what’s great about it.”
It’s a disjointed rivalry, to say the least. There have been a total of 28 matchups (DC leads the overall series series, 18-10), but with gaps included; the Hawks were Mid-State members into the early 1970s before leaving for other league affiliations (Central Suburban and Conference Indiana) and then returning in 2006.
Of all those battles played on dirt, grass, mud, and most recently artificial turf, not once has a Warriors-Hawks football game included the lose-and-be-done drama of postseason play.
Until tonight.
Whiteland travels to Decatur Central to determine a regional champion in Class 5A, the winner advancing to next week’s semistate to face the winner of the Bloomington South-Evansville North game.
An injury-ravaged 3-4 football squad coming out of September, the Warriors have bounced back with four consecutive victories. Decatur Central has seized its own momentum, as evidenced by the fact it has won seven straight.
Besides there being so much at stake, what separates this Whiteland-Decatur Central game from others is it’s that they’re facing one another for the second time in the same season.
There is some good to this, some not so good.
“Familiarity, just as a coach, means you overturn every stone. Find something you haven’t found before,” Fisher said. “But both teams are so different now. Everybody early on is trying to find out what their identity is.
“It’s an interesting game, yes, but we play each other so early that we’ve made tremendous adjustments just based on that game.”
Decatur Central made it all the way to the 5A state championship game in 2018, losing to New Palestine 28-14 at Lucas Oil Stadium. Last season it was the Warriors making it to downtown Indianapolis, dropping a thrilling 35-31 decision to Valparaiso in the battle for 5A supremacy.
Whichever team prevails this evening moves one step closer to making it back.
Decatur Central coach Kyle Enright won his first six contests against Whiteland but has seen the Warriors reverse the trend by winning the last two. He considers it a respectful rivalry.
“Sometimes a rivalry isn’t based on geographical proximity, but based on standards, expectations and success of the programs,” Enright said. “As a coach, I have always respected Darrin Fisher and the way his teams play the game. They are tough, and play hard until the end. All of these qualities in a team point to the identity created by the head coach.”
Whiteland’s players also see similarities on the other side.
“They always play aggressive, and we like playing aggressive against them,” said senior receiver Gunnar Hicks, who is second on the Warriors with 624 all-purpose yards despite missing two games due to injury. “The programs have their similarities, for sure. In Week 3 when we played them, we were expecting to play them again in the regional.”
And in a matter of hours, they will.
TONIGHT’S REGIONAL GAMES
Class 6A
Warren Central at Center Grove, 7 p.m.
Class 5A
Whiteland at Decatur Central, 7 p.m.
