HUDSONVILLE — A couple of key first-half turnovers sent Whitehall's
Thursday night opening game at Unity Christian into a tailspin, and the
Vikings could never regain control of things in a 43-21 defeat.
It's
the first time in nearly three years Whitehall has lost a regular-season
game, and the margin marked the Vikings' most lopsided defeat since the
2020 district finals.
The game turned late in the second quarter,
when Unity Christian's Jared DeVries picked off a Camden Thompson pass
and returned it to the one-yard line, setting up a quick touchdown that
extended the Crusaders' lead to 15-7. To make matters worse, Whitehall
lost a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, giving Unity another short field
and a quick touchdown drive - a drive on which Whitehall jumped offsides
on a fourth-and-2 at the seven-yard line. After the Crusaders turned
that miscue into a score, it was 22-7 at the half.
"I feel like we
had a lot of mistakes in the first game of the season, and I think that
they were a very disciplined football team and they're going to make
plays," Whitehall coach Tony Sigmon said. "A combination of shooting
ourselves in the foot at times and them being a very disciplined
football team, I think, necessitates what that scoreboard looks like
tonight. We've got to learn from it. It's never as good as it seems, and
it's never as bad as it seems."
For much of the first half, the
opener looked more or less as expected, with two highly-touted teams
battling closely. The Vikings were able to recover their own fumble on
the second play of the game, and on fourth-and-11 from the 39-yard line
later that drive, Camden Thompson threw a slant pass to Corde Anderson
that Anderson turned into a touchdown.
Whitehall then forced a
three-and-out, and Thompson faked a punt for a first down on the next
drive. However, the Vikings stalled out after that and punted the ball
away, setting Unity up for a drive that lasted over 5:30 on the clock
and ended with a 13-yard scoring run by Nolan Vis. A two-point
conversion run made it 8-7.
The Viking defense, put in such bad spots
the rest of the first half, looked to respond in the second half, but
Unity started gashing Whitehall with some chunk plays in the second
half. None were more damaging than when Jackson DeHoop got the Vikes to
bite on a play-action pass, enabling him to toss a great pass to an
in-stride Isaac Stienstra for a backbreaking 62-yard touchdown, making
it 36-7. Stienstra, who had a big game for the Crusaders, also had a
61-yard run the previous possession to set up a touchdown.
"I thought
we played pretty good defense," Sigmon said. "We just had a couple
missed tackles and then they busted out for some big runs - but credit
them. That's what they do.
"My personal opinion is, that's a heck of a
football team. It's not like we were playing somebody that doesn't have
a lot of rich tradition and history. That's a good football team, and
we know that."
Sigmon was pleased to see his players, none of whom
were familiar with facing a large deficit in-game, respond well and
continue to battle back. The Vikings had a pair of late touchdown
drives, one ending with a two-yard run by Gavin Craner and the second
with Ryan Goodrich throwing a 13-yard jump ball to Thompson for a score.
Goodrich set up the latter touchdown with a 73-yard burst on a
quarterback keeper.
Whitehall will get a chance to rebound in week two when it opens West Michigan Conference Lakes play against Orchard View.
"The
thing that we just talked to him about is that we've got to learn from a
loss," Sigmon said. "Sometimes, you learn more from a loss. I know I'm
saying all the cliches, but they're cliches because they're true. We
have to respond.
"I thought our kids battled hard. They could have
given up and they didn't. Now it's time for us to evaluate the film, and
let's see who can step up and make some plays for us next week. Let's
go win week two."
