Whitehall played perhaps its most complete game of the season
Friday night, dispatching Manistee 46-0 for its fourth straight victory.
The
Vikings' defense might have had the most to be proud of, holding a
tricky wing-T Mariners' attack to just 115 total yards, including
2-for-17 on third down conversions.
"Any time you get a
shutout, I think, is huge for your defense's confidence, especially for
the second half of the year," Whitehall coach Tony Sigmon said. "I
thought our defense played really well, and we got a turnover with a
score with Colten Kyser getting a pick-six right before halftime."
Kyser's touchdown extended Whitehall's big early lead to 26-0, effectively sealing the win.
Sigmon
attributed the Vikings' success on defense in part to their schedule.
Whitehall's recent week one battles with Unity Christian, which runs a
wing-T attack, have helped prepare it to face
Manistee's similar offense.
Corde Anderson was everywhere for
the Viking defense, with seven solo tackles and 11 takedowns in all, two
of them for a loss. Kolten Weiler also had a pair of tackles for loss.
Manistee's
best drive was its first, which bled nearly half the first quarter's
clock before Whitehall came up with a fourth-down stop at the Whitehall 3
The
Whitehall (4-1, 3-0 West Michigan Conference Lakes) offense got things
going quickly when Cole Essebaggers hit Anderson for a 74-yard touchdown
on his team's third offensive play of the game - on a third-and-22 to
boot.
As effective as the Vikes were early on, Sigmon said he
felt the team had "things to clean up" for the second half, and was
impressed with the players for doing so. Whitehall had three efficient,
methodical touchdown drives in the second half, including a few good
throws by Essebaggers in the middle of the field, a point of emphasis
for the coaches.
"That will be a big help to us moving
forward," Sigmon said. "We had some 15, 20-yard chunk plays in our pass
game. It's one thing to set them up, but it's another to convert them.
"It
was great to see Judd Musk make a nice catch, and Hunter (Osborne) made
a couple big plays in the run and the pass game. And we had a big play
on the first drive with Corde. I like being able to get more guys
involved. The more guys we can feature, it makes us a more dynamic
offense."
Essebaggers led the running game with 94 yards and
three touchdowns, in addition to 111 passing yards and a score. Liam
Leeke added 65 yards. The Vikings had a lot of success up front, typical
of their victorious performances.
"Our offensive line did a really nice job winning the line of scrimmage, which was critical tonight," Sigmon said.
