LocalSportsJournal.comThe Whitehall Vikings made quick work of the Hart Pirates on Friday evening, racking up 465 yards of total offense en route to a convincing 46-6 West Michigan Conference victory.
The Vikings scored on four of their five first half possessions, taking a 28-6 halftime lead.
Whitehall scored on their first possession of the game, going 62 yards on seven plays. Quarterback Kyle Stratton threw an 18-yard touchdown to Nate Bolley on the Vikings first possession and they connected for a 7-yard touchdown on their second possession as Whitehall went 65 yards on nine plays.
Running back Alec Pruett finished the game with three touchdowns for Whitehall ( 6-1, 4-1 WMC) as he ran for 193 yards on 20 carries.
“He is a great kid, an awesome kid,” Whitehall coach Tony Sigmon said of Pruett. “I am so proud of him and what he is doing is unbelievable.”
Stratton completed 9-of-15 passes for 219 yards, and threw three touchdowns while Bolley led the receiving group with four receptions for 71 yards and the two scores.
Stratton connected with Red Watson for a 63-yard score.
Hart scored its only touchdown of the night when quarterback Kellen Kimes hit Chance Alvesteffer on a 9-yard scoring pass.
Sigmon was quite happy with his offense and happy to get on to the opponent ahead (Montague). At the same time, he admitted his team needed to clean up on some things as they had seven penalties for 75 yards and three fumbles.
“The penalties are pretty average for us, we average six a game. It was an average night for us, a weird night,” said Sigmon. “We came here and took care of business and now it is time to move on to Montague.”
On the defensive side of the ball, leading the way for the Vikings were Jackson Cook and Jaiden Altgilbers as each registered 5.5 tackles.
The Hart offense was led by Alvesteffer, who rushed for 55 yards on 16 carries and he scored the lone Hart touchdown with two receptions.
Even in defeat, first-year Hart football coach Joe Tanis was proud of the Pirates’ effort.
“I was really impressed with how our kids played tonight,” Tanis said. “Our kids matched up with a school twice our size and hit them until the very end and played hard for each other. I believe we were the first team to score on them since week 2 (1st time Hart has scored on them since 2016, commented Tanis.” “We played much cleaner football tonight and took better care of the football and played a very clean game. We are just proud of our kids after they played all the big boys on the schedule and never backed down.”
Hart, now 2-5 overall and 0-5 in conference play, will host Oceana County rival Shelby next Friday.
