With Stratton leading the way, Whitehall takes down Hastings, 56-28

By Craig Beilfuss
LocalSportsJournal.com

WHITEHALL–Whitehall senior quarterback Kyle Stratton proved to be more than the Hasting Saxons could handle on Friday night.

Stratton completed 12-of-16 passes for 239 yards and four touchdowns and rushed 12 times for 36 yards and one touchdown and led Whitehall to a 56=28 victory over the visiting Saxons.

Whitehall quarterback Kyle Stratton (Photo/Leo Valdez)

“My receivers did a great job and the offensive line did what they do best in blocking and I was able to just do my thing,” said Stratton.

Whitehall racked up 493 yards on offense while Hastings rang up 282 yards.

Whitehall senior wide receiver Trannon Aylor and junior wide receiver Camden Thompson were Strattons’ main targets in the passing game. Aylor caught five passes for 143 yards and one touchdown. Thompson caught five passes for 72 yards and three touchdowns.

“We had to make some plays down the stretch and so the best thing to do was just let Kyle put the ball up in the air and let us receivers make some catches,” said Thompson. “We’re 3-0 and we just have to keep working and play good defense.”

Whitehall wide receiver Camden Thompson (Photo/Leo Valdez)

The Viking’s rushed the ball 254 yards. Junior Ryan Goodrich picked up 54 yards on six carries while senior Malcolm Earvin rushed for 44 yards on five attempts.

Whitehall led from start to finish. The Vikings scored its first TD at the 6:42 mark of the first quarter on a 31-yard pass play from Stratton to Aylor.

Whitehall scored again in the opening period on a 29-yard TD pass from Stratton to Thompson with 8 seconds remaining. That put the Vikings up, 14-0.

Goodrich scored on an 11-yard run at the 10:42 mark of the second stanza and Whitehall was in command with a 21-0 lead after another Frees PAT.

The Saxons got on the board with a 6-yard run and 2-point conversion to cut the Whitehall lead to 21-8.

Whitehall came back with a 27-yard TD run by Stratton, and after another Frees PAT, the Vikings were up 28-8 with 2:15 remaining in the first half.

The Vikings found the endzone just before the end of the first half on a 4-yard pass play from Stratton to Thompson to put Whitehall up 35-14 at the half.

Each team tacked on two third-quarter touchdowns along with a fourth-quarter touchdown.

Frees kicked five extra points for Whitehall.

Junior Brock Morningstar led the defense with five tackles while senior Kadin Waller had four tackles. Ca’mar Ready, Trenton Tenbrock, Aylor and Jamar Hill each contributed three tackles.

Whitehall (3-0) will travel across town next Friday evening to take on WMC Lakes rival, Montague (2-1, 1-0) in the “Battle of the Bell.”