By David Paulsen
Sports correspondent
After a 42-0 loss to Big Foot Oct. 4, the Whitewater High School football team must win its final two games of the season to qualify for the playoffs.
Head coach Anthoni Parr noted that injuries have been decimating this year’s squad. After the loss to Big Foot, Whitewater had eight starters injured, with only one able to return for the Jefferson game.
The loss to Big Foot was not a surprise as Big Foot is ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 2.
“They are a very good, well-coached team,” Parr said, adding that the loss is a learning experience for the Whippets and shows the team what it needs to be like to be a top-notch team.
Both offensively and defensively, Big Foot dominated this game.
Offensively, Big Foot racked up 426 total yards of offense, with 265 of those yards coming on the ground in 43 carries.
Big Foot also had 161 yards through the air, but 58 of those yards came on one scoring play late in the third quarter and involved blown coverage by the Whippet defense.
The injuries were so significant for the Whippets that on that particular play they had only 10 players on the field, Parr said.
Defensively, Big Foot held Whitewater to just 77 total yards. The ground game, which has been effective for the Whippets this year, managed just 30 yards on 22 carries. Quarterback Scott Gorsuch completed just five of 23 passes for 47 yards.
“Part of that was our own mistakes,” Parr said. “We came passing and we dropped a lot of passes.”
Big Foot took a 7-0 lead with 9:35 left in the first quarter on a two-yard run and then made it 14-0 at the 3:19 mark on a 19-yard run.
In the second quarter, Big Foot added two more scores. With 6:02 left in the quarter, a seven-yard run made it 21-0 and with just over a minute left before halftime a one-yard run made it 28-0.
The 58-yard pass with 2:57 left in the third made it 35-0, and a 39-yard pass with three minutes to go in the game concluded the scoring.
Gorsuch was intercepted twice in this game, but Parr indicated those came on deep passes and were just as good as punts.
The loss drops Whitewater to 4-3 overall and 2-3 in the Rock Valley Conference.
Coverage from the Oct. 1 game against Jefferson will appear in this week’s Whitewater Register.
