BIG RAPIDS — Revenge was the easy narrative for Whitehall going into Friday's district championship game at Big Rapids, but the reason the Vikings came out with a 17-7 victory and the program's third district trophy in 10 years was not that they were determined to avenge last year's stunning district final upset. It was because they did their jobs.
"For our kids, the best revenge we could have had was playing a good football game, and we played good enough," Whitehall coach Tony Sigmon said. "We had things we've got to clean up, but we played good enough...It's really about celebrating us.
It's about our team, it's about our family, our group, and honestly, the greatest gift of all is more time. We get to have more time with our kids."
Not only do they get more time, they get to prepare for a home game. The Vikings (8-3) will host Grand Rapids South Christian - the team that knocked them out of the 2022 playoffs - next week after the Sailors upset top-ranked and unbeaten Unity Christian in another district final.
Whitehall's defense was the driving force of the night, shutting out the Cardinals until the game was essentially decided and allowing only 193 total yards. Sigmon credited defensive coordinator Keith Stratton with a terrific game plan.
"Maybe it's lessons learned from the past, things that we felt like we wish we would have done differently last year," Sigmon said. "We really had some time to scheme up on that, feel comfortable with it and then the kids stepped up in a big way."
Big Rapids' best scoring chance prior to a late touchdown that ended the night's scoring was extinguished in the third quarter when Corde Anderson ripped the ball from a Cardinal runner in the red zone and Camden Thompson scooped it up.
Whitehall's Corde Anderson (10) rips the ball away from Big Rapids' Jack Bollman during Friday's district finals at Big Rapids. The fumble was one of two Viking turnovers forced in a 17-7 win.
The Vikings, up three points, then methodically worked their way down the field, delivering a crushing blow early in the fourth quarter when Thompson scrambled to his left and found Hunter Osborne for a 29-yard touchdown.
It was the first of two scores for Osborne, and the last of a remarkable series of plays by the junior receiver, who was on the receiving end of three key third-and-long conversion passes from Thompson. He later ran in the Vikings' second touchdown and ended the night with 95 total yards, all of them enormous.
"There's not really much to say, but I did it for those boys that graduated last year," Osborne said. "I just had to do my thing and step up for my team. I couldn't do it without my linemen or my blockers or any of that. We played great defense and if we didn't do that and execute...I'm just excited. I'm hyped. I've lost the words because it's just a crazy moment."
In all, Thompson converted five third-and-longs through the air (Whitehall was 10-of-19 on the key down overall) and while the Vikings only scored three first-half points - Judd Musk booted a 28-yard field goal on Whitehall's first drive - those conversions helped Whitehall limit Big Rapids' field position.
Thompson was 7-of-8 for 142 yards and that one touchdown, showing the growth he's made as a quarterback.
"Credit him, because a really good quarterback will keep his eyes downfield, and that's exactly what he did," Sigmon said of the pivotal touchdown. "He's done a really nice job progressing, and he's done a really nice job of embracing his role. He's a big part of why we're here."
Thompson also extinguished any hope of a comeback for Big Rapids, intercepting a deep pass on the first Cardinals' play after Whitehall went three-and-out with a 10-0 lead.
That set up Osborne's touchdown run, which came on a fourth-and-goal from the 11-yard line.
For Sigmon, it was "a total team win," and the defensive statistics certainly reflected that, as no one had more than four solo tackles. Hunter Peterson, thrust into action due to one of the many injuries afflicting the Whitehall lineup, was "an unsung hero," with a pair of solo stops. Corde Anderson had six assists on tackles and had a sack in addition to his forced fumble.
Gavin Craner contributed 71 rushing yards, and the Viking offensive line largely kept Thompson upright, though he was taken down while trying to scramble a couple of times.
"This is certainly the most resilient group I've been able to coach in my time at Whitehall, but maybe even in the history of Whitehall," Sigmon said. "With all the injuries that we have, losing the people that we have, being beat up and nicked up, for us to be able to go and (beat) two great football teams,...this group's just special. They're special for a lot of reasons.
"Everyone's chipping in on this one, whether it's a long snapper, whether it's a linebacker, defensive and offensive linemen, everyone has really been able to put their hands on that trophy and say, 'I contributed to this.' I'm just absolutely proud of this team because this is a really, really good football team, and doing it the right way."
