Norse hold on against Cards for first win

When gut check time came, the Whitehall football team came through as they held on for their first win of the season, beating Eleva-Strum 28-21 last Friday.

Whitehall seemed to have taken control with a touchdown that put them ahead by 14 points with 5:22 left in the game, but a quick score and an onside kick recovery made the ending more interesting. 

“I told (my team) they gotta play, it’s up to them to play football,” Whitehall coach Tyler Bortle said. “They gotta man up and play defense. It’s up to them whether they want to win or not, we just coach.” 

The Cardinals were driving as Alex Anderson ran for 18 yards on a third down play with two yards to go to give E-S a first down at the Whitehall 24. E-S had another short-yardage situation, but Whitehall’s defense stepped up.

On third-and-three, the Norse stuffed Ryan Julson — who ran for 180 yards in the game — a yard short of the marker. As the game clock continued to tick with less than a minute remaining, the Cardinals lined up on fourth down in a power formation. They wouldn’t get the play they wanted to run off, however, as the exchange between quarterback Carter Gunderson and Julson was fumbled, the ball went on the ground where Julson picked it up, but was swarmed by Whitehall defenders as he was tackled in the backfield for a loss.

Whitehall took over with 48 seconds remaining in the game, they picked up one first down then let the clock wind down to zero. 

For Bortle and his team, the first win was a long time coming. They weren’t able to complete their first game of the season due to storms then lost a handful of competitive contests before finally breaking through on Friday.

“The first is always the most important,” Bortle said. “The guys did everything they could. I’m all choked up with all sorts of emotions right now.”

Part of the reason Whitehall was able to break through was a new found passing game. The team had thrown just 19 passes all season entering the game, but they found success through the air early. 

Quarterback Devon McCune rolled to his right on a first down play at the E-S 43 before finding Nick Katzman alone behind the E-S defense. McCune threw the ball deep and Katzman made the catch on the run, sprinting in for the 43-yard touchdown. McCune kicked the point after as the Norse took a 7-0 lead about six minutes into the game.

The Cardinals responded back, pounding Julson up the middle, including a 16-yard run on a third-and-nine play that gave them a first down at the five. Three plays later, he finished the drive with a two-yard touchdown. The point after tied the game with 1:06 left in the first. 

After the Norse had to punt on their next possession, a trick play put the Cardinals in the lead.

A long punt return by Anderson gave them the ball at the Whitehall 38, Julson ran down to the 28. Whitehall’s defense appeared to be in a good position as the Cardinals faced a third-and-12 from the 30, but they called a trick play in which Reede Brown took the snap from center and pitched to Gunderson, who threw down the field to Lagarrian Smith for a touchdown. The point after put E-S ahead 14-7 with seven minutes left in the half.

That trick play was one of several the Cardinals ran in the game. They ran a hook-and-ladder on the first play from scrimmage, faked a punt in the second half and attempted two onside kicks. 

After the teams exchanged punts, the Norse got the ball back with 38 seconds left. They again turned to their passing attack to move the ball down the field and get in the end zone.

McCune connected with Mason Pientok for a 22-yard gain on the first play of the drive before a pass interference penalty gave them a first down at the 21. 

On the next play McCune rolled to his right before throwing a dart to Pientok who secured the catch between two E-S defenders while his momentum carried him out of bounds for the touchdown with 12 seconds left in the game. The point after was missed. 

“There are some certain passing play that we have in our offense and I was just too stubborn to run them,” Bortle said.  “After we practiced them and I saw that the guys were catching on, I was like ‘you know what, we’ve got nothing to lose, we gotta go for it.’”

Whitehall received the opening kickoff in the second half and marched 65 yards down the field. They took nearly eight minutes off the clock as the longest play was a 12-yard run by McCune. McCune finished the drive with a touchdown up the middle. He then passed to Katzman for the two-point conversion to put the Norse ahead 21-14 with 4:30 left in the game.

E-S used up the rest of the time in the third quarter to move down to the Whitehall 38, but they wouldn’t get much closer after an incomplete pass ended the drive on fourth-and-nine.

The Norse appeared to put the game away with another time-consuming drive. They ran the ball down to the E-S 43 before facing a third-and-nine when McCune rolled out of the pocket and connected with Alex Sartor for a 22-yard pickup. 

Two plays later, McCune escaped the pocket, this time running and weaving through the E-S defense for a 16-yard touchdown. McCune kicked the extra point, making the score 28-14 with 5:42 left in the game.

A deep pass to Smith put the Cardinals back in business before Julson ran for a touchdown with 4:08 remaining.

E-S then recovered the ensuing onside kick, but Whitehall’s defense held up.