By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal;com
 
WHITEHALL — They say first impressions mean a lot.
 
Well, that wasn’t the case for the Whitehall football team Friday night as the Vikings lost a fumble on their first offensive series, but didn’t make many other mistakes the rest of the way.
 
A capacity crowd at Vikings Stadium for homecoming was treated to a thorough 49-6 blow out of the Manistee Mariners as the defending West Michigan Conference Lakes Division champion advanced its league record to 3-0 while improving to 3-2 overall.
 
The Viking crowd was warmed up with the football team building a 35-0 lead, setting up a running clock in the second half.

Whitehall takes the field on homecoming night. Photo/Leo Valdez

 
Whitehall’s defense set the tone early, with Corde Anderson blowing in to sack quarterback Manistee quarterback Dayvion Neal-Berry for a big loss on the Mariners’ first play from scrimmage.
 
Manistee eventually had to punt, and the Vikings hit the Mariners a stunning body blow when Camden Thompson returned the kick 55 yards to the house and Nate Betz added the point after for a 7-0 lead with 7:37 left in the first quarter.

Hunter Peterson rushes the ball for Whitehall. Photo/Leo Valdez

 
“We were really able to play suffocating defense from there,” said Vikings coach Tony Sigmon. “I felt that play (quarterback sack) really set the tone, probably for the whole game.
 
“I was really happy with our defense. They did a wonderful job. There were times when I felt we were in really good rhythm tonight, but then there were other times we were still not. Hopefully, we can get that cleaned up.”
 
The Vikings established the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, making for a thoroughly dominating performance, and a beat down of a Manistee team that rolled Orchard View 41-0 last week.
 
“We’ve actually done that the last two weekends, and I think that’s going to be a big factor for next week,” Sigmon added. “I think we really had to learn in the first two non-conference games, because those games were remarkably physical. So, our goal is to kind of play with that type of intensity, effort and energy, and we know good things will happen. I was pretty happy with tonight as far as that goes.”
 
A big defensive play set up Whitehall’s second score, when Anderson recovered a Manistee fumble at the Mariners 28.
 
Senior quarterback Thompson converted on the opportunity almost immediately, hitting Hunter Osborne with a 20-yard strike to make it 14-0 at 1:18 of the first.
 
Later, he increased the Vikings lead to 21-0 when he kept the ball, raced left and blew down the sideline on a 54-yard run. Thompson added a 15-yard TD later in the quarter, and Osborne got his second score just 5 seconds before half on a 19-yard scamper.

Kaden Kott tries to turn the corner for Manistee. Photo/Leo Valdez

 
Thompson gave a shout out to the offensive linemen.
 
“Yep, those are the five guys make it happen,” Thompson said. “I love those guys. When they get rolling, our whole team gets rolling. I feel everyone meshed together. My receivers are always moving with me. Just the connections we all have. It really gets us going.”
 
Ryan Goodrich punched one in from a yard out, and Gavin Craner tacked on the final Vikings’ touchdown with a 2-yard burst off tackle.
 
Manistee’s lone score came on senior Kaden Kott’s 16-yard touchdown pass reception.
 
“I love the way our skill kids don’t give up on a play,” Sigmon added. “We had some stuff that we hit on early, and we had great blocking on the perimeter, and we were able to score really efficiently and effectively there. For our kids to be able to keep coming back and making plays when the play broke down is always an exciting thing for us. We’ve been able to do that the last three years.”
 
Craner finished the night with a team-leading 75 yards rushing on eight carries, Thompson ran for 69 on five tries, Goodrich had 54 on six attempts and Osborne tacked on 36 on four carries.
 
Thompson completed 7-of-14 passes for 86 yards. Osborne caught three for 59 and Blake English grabbed two for 26.

Abram Stoudt (6) rushes for Whitehall. Photo/Leo Valdez

 
Whitehall had twice as many first downs as Manistee, 16-8, and outrushed the Mariners, 247-103, averaging 8.2 yards per rush to Manistee’s 2.78. Manistee added 50 yards passing.
 
Goodrich and Anderson had six tackles apiece to lead the Viking defense, while Max Krukowski had five stops, and Betz and Cody Manzo each had four.
 
Kott led the Mariners in rushing with 62 yards on 12 carries, Josh Weiss gained 40 in eight attempts and Landin Sowa added 33 on eight tries.
 
Neal-Berry was 4-of-10 passing for 57 yards, with Kott hauling in three for 33 yards.
 
Wyatt Protasiewicz had eight tackles and one for loss to lead Manistee’s defense. Brayden Schweitzer finished with eight tackles, including 1.5 sacks.  Sowa was credited with being in on a sack.
 
The Vikings look to win their third straight game in the WMC Lakes next Friday when they travel to Oakridge.
 
Manistee slipped to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the WMC Lakes, with another tough road game next week at Ludington.