Whitehall missed a couple of key chances to push Swan Valley early in Friday's district championship game, and that put the Vikes in too big a hole to overcome in a 36-20 defeat.
Whitehall got the ball into Swan Valley territory on each of its five possessions in the first half, but couldn't turn any of those opportunities into points. Twice the Vikes turned it over and three times they were unable to come up with a fourth-down conversion. Once Whitehall had it inside the 10-yard line and couldn't score on fourth-and-goal from the 8.
"That was our Achilles heel all season long, and it festered tonight," Whitehall coach Tony Sigmon said. "They were a good football team. They came out and played really hard and aggressive, and some things that have been our downfall this year resurfaced."
Whitehall (6-5) was whistled for eight penalties in the game, and Sigmon said several of them were important ones that hurt scoring chances. Four turnovers didn't help, either.
Of course, some credit was due to Swan Valley, a tradition-rich program that made its 15th straight playoff appearance this season and won its ninth straight game by double digits Friday. Swan Valley scored 22 second-quarter points to take a 22-0 halftime lead, then recorded a pick-six early in the third quarter. Whitehall trailed 36-7 before scoring a couple of late touchdowns. Though Whitehall actually outgained Swan Valley by 20 yards in the game, the host Vikings certainly made the most of their yards.
"They were a physical football team and played really well tonight," Sigmon said. "You can't take anything away from them. They played a great football game."
Liam Leeke carried much of the load for Whitehall in the game, going for an impressive 132 yards on 20 carries, including a touchdown. Cole Essebaggers added 92 yards on the ground, scoring once himself, and threw for 54 more. He tossed a 28-yard scoring pass to Corde Anderson.
Anderson had a terrific statistical night defensively, with 11 solo tackles, including 1.5 tackles for a loss. Hunter Peterson added nine tackles.
The Vikings ended the season 6-5, and Sigmon praised his team for their hard work all season. Despite again graduating a boatload of talent from a playoff team a year ago, Whitehall still managed a winning season and a sixth straight district finals appearance. Plenty of top performers on the team are slated to return next fall, and Whitehall has earned the benefit of the doubt that it will again be a formidable squad in 2026.
"Our kids worked really hard all year long to get to where they were," Sigmon said. "They had a really daunting schedule and the way they handled that, and conducted themselves, was really admirable.
"It's always tough. One team is always going to walk away as a winner in their last game of the season, but these kids grew a lot over the course of the season."
