Whitehall put the finishing touches on its West Michigan Conference Lakes outright title Friday, routing Fremont 47-6 in what coach Tony Sigmon called "the most complete team win we've had, top to bottom."
Whitehall led 47-0 after three quarters.
The Vikings (6-2, 6-0 WMC Lakes) got off to a quick start, scoring three first-quarter touchdowns by three different players - Camden Thompson, Nate Betz and Corde Anderson. An overwhelming defense, paced by a great effort from Cole Essebaggers at linebacker, held the Packers to five first downs.
With Ryan Goodrich down with an injury and the Vikings wanting to give Gavin Craner a break after a busy last few weeks, Whitehall turned to Nate Betz on the ground. Betz responded with 140 yards on only 11 carries, two of them for touchdowns.
"It made a lot of sense to ride with Nate," Sigmon said. "He's been a good football player all season long."
Also on offense, Camden Thompson ran for 140 yards, passed for 95 and was responsible for five touchdowns. A big part of his success was the Viking offensive line, which Sigmon said had one of its most impressive nights as a group.
"(Camden) threw the ball well and our offensive line did a great job protecting him and establishing the line of scrimmage," Sigmon said.
Blake English had 53 yards receiving and also posted four solo tackles, three of them for a loss. Thompson had an interception and Anderson recovered a fumble.
Most impressive about the game was the way Whitehall maintained its focus level. Facing a team they were heavily favored to beat, on a day the students did not have class due to fall break, dealing with injuries, the Vikings did not make it look like any of those things were factors.
"We're doing what everyone hopes they can do at this time of year and that's play at a high level," Sigmon said. "Week 9 will be huge for us, a big road test (at Portland), but we did a great job this week."
