Win at Death Valley

It could have been billed the Trent Calhoun-Ladale Rider Show as the two running backs put on quite a display for the fans who attended the Lincoln County-Whitley County football game Friday night in Stanford.
However, it was Rider doing the best on this night as the Whitley County senior ran for 243 yards on 41 carries and scored one touchdown in the 28-15 district win.
“It was a good win,” said Whitley County coach Mike Campbell. “We felt coming in that Lincoln County had a pretty good football team. We had some good scoring opportunities in the first half but we didn’t capitalize on them. The second half I thought we played Whitley County football and we pretty much put four quarters together.”
“I thought we played pretty good football, offensively and defensively in the second half and that was the difference in the football game,” said Campbell.
“I felt like our offensive line took hold better in the second half,” added Campbell. It was in the second half that Rider had 160 of those yards and scored his only touchdown of the game.
“The line made some very good blocks and came off the ball in the second half,” said Campbell. “We were moving the chains, making first downs and it finally broke for us.”
“We gave up one big play,” added Campbell. “Besides that, we played sound defense.”
The Colonels (2-2, 1-0) got on the scoreboard first in the opening quarter when the Colonels blocked a Lincoln County punt. Cody Jeffries picked up the loose ball at the 40 yard line and went in for the touchdown to put the Colonels ahead, 7-0 after Mark Teague’s point after.
After holding Lincoln County on downs at the 47 yard line, the Patriots punted and pinned the Colonels at their own one yard line. Rider tried to push Whitley County out, but was caught in the backfield for a safety. The Patriots took the free kick at their own 45 yard line after the return. It took just one play for Calhoun to break the big play, a 45 yard gallop into the end zone at the 1:27 mark of the first quarter. The extra point but the Patriots had a 8-7 lead.
The Patriots struck again with 4:40 left in the second quarter when Rogers hit Calhoun on a 78 yard pass play to go ahead, 15-7. Once again the PAT failed and the host went into the dressing room with an eight-point half-time lead.
The Colonels put together the tying drive right out of the gate in the third quarter and it was Rider doing most of the damage. Whitley County took the ball at the 35 yard line and after two carries by the senior running back, the Colonels found themselves on the Lincoln County side of the field at the 39 yard line. Rider would have runs of 13, four and four to the LC 18 where the drive stalled. Facing a third and two, Teague carried to the 15 but was pulled down by the mask and five more yards were added to the play. Rider went the distance on the following play. Trailing 15-13, Campbell went for two and sophomore quarterback Jordan McCumbers didn’t disappoint anyone as he hit Shawn Baird in the end zone for the tying conversion.
The Colonels limited Lincoln County to four plays before forcing the Patriots to punt. Again the Colonels saw themselves backed against their own goal-line at the five yard line. Rider was hit in the backfield for a two yard loss then it was no gain on second down. The third down play went from McCumbers to a wide open Eric Partin, who went 97 yards to pay dirt. Teague’s boot on the PAT made it 22-15 with 5:54 in the third.
Whitley County moved ahead 28-15 on the first play of the fourth quarter when Eli Rhodes pushed his way across the line for a touchdown. Cody Jeffries made two big third down conversions on the drive. The Colonels faced a third and four from the 46 when he got a ten-yard run, then a third and six from the sixteen turned into a nine yard carry for a first down at the seven yard marker.
The Patriots had one big drive in the final period but an interception by Shawn Roe with 4:29 killed the drive.
Whitley County will host Madison Central Friday night in a district showdown. The game begins at 7:30 p.m.

Whitley Co. 28, Lincoln Co. 15
Whitley Co. 7 0 15 6- 28
Lincoln Co. 8 7 0 0- 15
First Quarter
WC – Cody Jeffries, 40 yd block punt return (Mark Teague kick)
LC – Safety
LC – Trent Calhoun, 45 run (kick failed)
Second Quarter
LC – Calhoun, 77 pass from Rogers (Calhoun kick)
Third Quarter
WC – Ladale Rider, 10 run (Baird from McCumbers)
WC – Eric Partin, 97 pass from McCumbers (Teague kick)
Fourth Quarter
WC – Eli Rhodes, 1 run (kick failed)