By Daniel Schoettler
Sports Correspondent
The Whitewater Whippets high school football saw glimpses of what they could be against Evansville/Albany on Friday night 63-14 loss on the road. The team had two drives during the game where they were able to get their offense going.
The Whippets got on the board first as quarterback Daniel Fuller completed a six yard touchdown pass to Jimmy DuVal after a long drive that happened mostly through the air. Fuller would make it 8-0 by completing the two point conversion to Tyler Sheffield.
“That first drive is what we think we can do,” head coach Tom Grosinske said. “When we’re hitting on all cylinders, catching the balls we need to catch, and that’s what we feel we can do.”
The Blue Devils answered back as running back Brennen Banks ran one in from three yards out to cut the Whippets lead to 8-7. They were able to add on later in the first quarter as Chase Katzenmeyer ran one from one yard out to make it 14-8 at the end of the first quarter.
Evansville/Albany would open the game up in the second quarter, Zach Mielke started off the second quarter scoring by hitting Banks for a 22 yard touchdown pass. Banks later would add on again on an one yard touchdown run to make it 28-8.
Mielke completed another touchdown pass after the team was given a decent field position as he hit Logan Katzenmeyer for a 24 yard touchdown pass. Banks added on again for his third touchdown on a 25 yard run to make it 42-8.
“The game got away from us in a hurry,” Grosinske said. “We started where we were winning the thing and then really close, but we couldn’t flip the field.”
Mielke would complete his third touchdown of the night as he hit Sully Geske for a 35 yard touchdown pass to make it 49-8 at the half. The Blue Devils added on in the third quarter as Brandon Markee would run one in from 11 yards out to make it 56-8.
Evansville/Albany got on the board one more time in the fourth on a four yard touchdown run by Tony Pascal. The Whippets finally got on the board again in the fourth as Fuller hit Tyler Sheffield for a 14 yard touchdown pass to make it 63-14.
“If we can be consistent like that,” Grosinske said. “We can keep our offense on the field and theirs off, which is the key hopefully moving forward.”
Whippets quarterback Daniel Fuller was 20-for-36 for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Blue Devils quarterback Zach Mielke was 8-for-10 for 149 yards and three touchdowns.
Ernie Magana finally had a few good carries Friday night as he rushed ball for 75 yards on eight carries. Fuller added 30 yards rushing on nine carries.
“We are more of a passing team because we aren’t doing a good job run blocking,” Grosinske said. “Our pass blocking is better than our run blocking, so we are using what we are able to do more effectively.”
Brennen Banks was the leading rusher for Evansville/Albany as he ran the ball for 102 yards on 12 carries with three touchdowns on the ground and had two receptions for 46 yards with two touchdowns receiving. Chase Katzenmeyer was the leading receiver for the Blue Devils with three receptions for 48 yards.
The Blue Devils improve to 5-1 on the year, while the Whippets drop to 0-6. Whitewater will host Brodhead/Juda for their homecoming game on Friday night for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
“Homecoming week will be full of a lot of things going on and a lot of fun things for our kids,” Grosinske said. “We want to keep our kids focused as much as we can at practice time, and we want them to rally around having a home crowd for homecoming.”
Grosinske added it will be a big week for the kids and they want to treat the fans to a good game.
