By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal.com
LUDINGTON – With the playoffs on the horizon, the Whitehall football team is hitting its stride at the right time.
Firing on all cylinders Friday night, the Vikings registered their fourth shutout of the season with a 47-0 victory over the Ludington Orioles in Ludington.
It was a West Michigan Conference Lakes Division game.
“We gave up the one touchdown to Oakridge before halftime, but other than that, I feel play as good a defense historically in our conference than we ever have before,” said Whitehall coach Tony Sigmon. “The great thing about is all four of them (shutouts) came on the road. So the old adage (that) defense travels is holding true for us. I’m really happy with the way our defense is playing right now.
“All three levels of our defense are doing pretty good … defensive line, linebackers and (defensive backs). The kids are playing their hearts out, that’s for sure.”
Whitehall opened a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
Photo/Joe Washington
The first came on special teams as Trannon Aylor returned a punt 80 yards. Kyler Frees kicked the extra point to give the Vikings a 7-0 lead.
Ca’mar Ready then capped off a touchdown drive for the Vikings when he went in from 3 yards out, and Frees added the extra point for a 14-0 score after one.
Quarterback Kyle Stratton scored the only touchdown of the second period on a 1-yard scamper around end and Frees’ kick gave the Vikings a 21-0 lead at the half.
“They are so strong, so physical, so fast and really well coached,” Ludington coach Charlie Gunsell said. “We played pretty well the first half. It’s so hard to sustain anything against them offensively, and defensively they just have so many weapons, so many athletes that it’s hard to contain (their offense).
“First half, I felt we played well, and did some good things. Second half the wheels started coming off a little bit. We gave up a couple touchdowns late. It is what it is. It’s tough to stop them.”
Whitehall punched in three more touchdowns in the third quarter.
Darnell Mack had one on a 15-yard run, Malcolm Earvin clicked off a 47-yard run for another and Aylor scored for the second time in the game on a 76-yard pass play from Stratton.
Camden Thompson scored the final touchdown on a 79-yard interception return.
Photo/Joe Washington
“We’re pretty happy with the output,” said Sigmon. “We had a couple different challenges, specifically Ludington really had eight guys on the perimeter if you count their defensive ends as well. So, we got most of our yards on chunk plays up the middle, and then we broke a couple of pass plays late. I was real happy with our run game.
“The wind being a factor tonight, it was a little clunky in the passing game. But we were still able to be efficient enough. I thought our offensive line did a nice job. They’ve really come into their own.”
Leading the way up front were Connor Nash, Jack Ambrose, Blake Morningstar, Parker Mott and Kaden Waller.
Stratton finished the night 6-of-16 for 156 yards and the one touchdown. He also led the Vikings in rushing with 80 yards on nine carries.
Aylor led the receivers with 80 yards on two catches while Thompson made four receptions for 76 yards. Ready had 59 yards on six tries and Mack contributed another 59 on four attempts. Each scored a touchdown. Earvin rushed for 49 yards and a touchdown on four carries. Thompson had 37 on two touches.
Defensive leaders were Ready with 10 tackles and one tackle for loss, Hunter Osborne seven and one tackle for loss, Trenton TenBrock had nine tackles, Aylor six and Mott six with one tackle for loss.
“We cleaned up a lot of penalties, too,” added Sigmon. “There’s effort penalties, and then there’s other penalties which are, for lack of a better term, stupid mistakes. Effort penalties are where we might have had a hold or something like that. I know the kids are working hard, and I don’t want the alternative. So those penalties we can live with.
Photo/Joe Washington
“The false starts, the offsides … things that really kind of hurt you at the worst time … I felt we did a fantastic job cleaning those up tonight. I’m as excited about that then really anything else.”
Ludington’s offense couldn’t get anything generated against the Vikings. Orioles quarterback Cameron Gunsell gained 12 yards rushing and threw for 116.
Whitehall improved to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the WMC Lakes where the Vikings hold a narrow lead over Manistee (3-1). The Vikings close out the season at home, starting with a conference game with Fremont next Friday.
Ludington dropped below .500 on the season at 3-4, and 2-3 in the conference with the loss. The Orioles finishes the season on the road, starting with next Friday night’s game at Orchard View.
Check out more photos from the action courtesy of Joe Washington.
