District Loss

It’s do-or-die time for the Whitley County Colonels.
A 21-13 loss to George Rogers Clark last Friday made the playoff picture a real simple one for the Colonels – beat North Laurel Friday or watch the playoffs from the stands.
Whitley had its chances to make the playoff picture a little different against the 7-1 Cardinals on the road, but too many dropped passes, and an early second-half scoring flurry by GRC has left Whitley with few options for the post-season.
“We just got wore down,” Whitley County head coach Mike Campbell said after Friday’s loss. “We were a little shorthanded and we don’t have a lot of backup depth. That really hurt us.”
Whitley escaped the first half with an even 7-7 split.
GRC took its first drive of the game 35 yards on 11 plays for a score. Senior quarterback Henry Hudson hooked up with Bobby Roberts on a five-yard pass play for the score and a 7-0 on the successful extra point.
The Colonels responded early in the second quarter on a drive kept alive by one of the Cardinal’s 12 offside penalties of the game. Senior halfback Ladale Rider, who finished the night with 136 yards on 24 carries slipped into the end zone with 11:53 to go in the half. Mark Teague knotted things at seven with the extra point kick.
GRC came out of the locker room with a purpose.
Junior running back Robelle Roberts broke away for a 63-yard gallop to break the tie, giving GRC a 14-87 lead.
Whitley found a way to respond again. Rider capped a seven-play, 45-yard drive by dancing around a GRC linebacker to complete a one-yard TD run. Teague missed the extra point try, and the Cards held a one point advantage.
Whitley wouldn’t find a way to score again as dropped passes and missed opportunities plagued the Colonels for the remainder of the game.
The rain-soaked field made for treacherous going as Whitley watched scoring chances slip and slide away time and again.
“We dropped some balls and slipped around there a little bit,” Campbell said. “It wasn’t a great night for throwing the football and we got ourselves in some situations where we had to throw it … It seems like all year long, we’ve been a play short.”
With 4:04 to go in the third quarter, GRC engineered another nice scoring drive, pounding the ball downfield with their running game. A 25-yard strike from Hudson to tight end Tristan Jones bailed the Cards out of a third-and long situation, and led to a score by running back Lawrence Skinner two plays later.
Whitley put together a long, clock-chewing driving in the fourth quarter, but was hampered by three incomplete passes, then stalled after a fourth-and-eight play fell five yards short 25 yards from the end zone.
Whitley had a chance to tie in their final possession of the game as a perfect halfback pass from wide slipped through the hand of his receiver. A crucial holding penalty against the Colonels on the next plan aided in stamping out the drive.
The win propelled GRC to 8-1 on the season and dropped the Colonels to 3-6.
Campbell said his team’s showdown at Colonel Stadium with North Laurel could shape up to be a good one.
“I think we match up well with them. Their defense is obviously their strong suit,” he said. “They do a lot of things right. They aren’t a bad football team. I know their record doesn’t indicate it, but it’s just like last year in this district … Madison Central is at the top, and everybody else is bunched up underneath them.”

Whitley Co.: 0 7 6 0 – 13
GRC: 7 7 0 7 – 21
First quarter
GRC: Roberts 5 pass from Hudson (Farthing kick) 5:14
Second quarter
WC: Rider 4 run (Teague kick) 11:53
Third quarter
GRC: Rogers 63 run (Farthing kick) 11:43
WC: Rider 1 run (kick failed) 8:24
GRC: Skinner 6 run (Farthing kick) 4:04