Darrin Fisher had a hard time coming up with the words at certain points. And honestly, it’s hard to blame him at this point.
Two weeks in a row, Whiteland has been in games that came down to decisive red-zone plays in the final minute. And for the second straight week, the Warriors came out on the losing end of a dramatic finish, as visiting Mooresville answered a late Whiteland touchdown with one of its own to steal a 24-21 victory in Mid-State Conference action on Friday night.
“I thought my guts were torn out last week,” Whiteland coach Darrin Fisher said, “and they’re kind of out again.”
Starting from its own 14-yard line with 4:52 left, the Warriors (3-3, 2-3) got themselves into a third-and-long situation but shook free, courtesy of a 9-yard throw from Eli Taylor to Eli Zehr and Jordan Palmer’s 28-yard run to midfield on fourth and 2. Palmer then gained 7 more yards on third and 3 from the Pioneer 43, and Tyree Nolan followed with a 36-yard touchdown rush, sending the Whiteland crowd into a frenzy with 1:19 remaining.
As it turned out, 79 seconds was plenty of time for Mooresville. Quarterback Connor Cruz completed passes of 29 and 11 yards to favorite receiver Kaden Bruhn (nine catches, 115 yards) to put the ball at the Warrior 20 with 42.5 seconds to play, and he followed with a 9-yard toss to running back Keenan Brownlee. After a pair of short runs, Cruz rolled out on second and goal from the 3 and found Bruhn, who made a contested catch in the back corner of the end zone with 17.8 seconds on the clock.
The Warriors had one last chance, running three plays in Pioneer territory, but they were unable to get off a pass on the last play from the 44 and scrambling quarterback Ollie Taylor was taken down at the 15-yard line to end it.
The Pioneers (3-4, 2-3) put the Whiteland defense on its heels early, with a solid kickoff return, a 16-yard pass play and a personal foul penalty advancing the ball to the Warriors’ 14-yard line. But the home side held, getting a pair of tackles for loss, and Mooresville had to settle for a 38-yard Kiernan Herald field goal.
Whiteland took its sweet time responding, eating up more than 10 minutes of clock with a deliberate 16 play, 81-yard touchdown drive. Nolan did a majority of the damage, carrying three times for 47 yards, and his final run covered 15 yards and set up Elliot Massingale’s 4-yard scoring run on first and goal.
Mooresville again penetrated the red zone on its next possession, with some help from another 15-yard penalty on the Warriors, but the march stalled and ended with a turnover on downs after back-to-back incompletions from the Whiteland 14. The Pioneers got it back near midfield after a short Warrior punt and cashed in on the extra opportunity, with Cruz finding Ty Montgomery for a 7-yard touchdown pass to make it 10-7 with 28.5 seconds remaining in the half.
That almost proved to be enough time for the Warriors, who moved the ball to the Pioneer 24-yard line but came up empty on three shots at the end zone from there.
Whiteland turned the ball over on downs on its first two possessions of the third quarter, the second of those ending on an unsuccessful fake punt. Mooresville took advantage of the first of those, a quick 59-yard drive ending when Cruz found Bruhn over the top for a 41-yard score and a 17-7 lead.
“Our entire offense is based on taking what they give us,” Fisher said of his team’s offensive struggles, “and … it took me probably a couple more drives to figure it out than it should have.”
The Pioneers were back in Whiteland territory with a chance to put the game away, but fumbled the ball away at the Warrior 45. Six plays later, Taylor rolled right and found tight end Peyton Williams for a 17-yard touchdown with 7:28 left. Mooresville went three and out on its next possession, with Cruz’s 60-yard punt setting the stage for what looked at the time to be a winning drive by Whiteland.
Instead, the Warriors took a second gut punch just six days after a potential tying or winning drive at Martinsville was stopped at the 2-yard line as time ran out.
With another tough game coming in Week 8 at Plainfield, how will they respond?
“They were incredibly resilient this week,” Fisher said. “They picked me up. … Now, unfortunately, we’re in the same situation with a last-second loss. I don’t know. We’ve just got to play the next play.”
