Elks Run By Whitney in a Shootout

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

ELKHART – They couldn’t stop him. They could only hope to contain him and truthfully, the Whitney Wildcats didn’t do a very good job of that, either. D.J. Williams, running back for the Elkhart Elks, had a night to remember as the senior ran roughshod over the Wildcats’ defense.

Williams gained nearly 500 (476) yards on the ground to go along with six touchdowns as the Elks held off the Wildcats last Friday to win the District 9-3A DI match-up by a final score of  52-45. The win keeps the Elks alive in the race for the postseason with a 3-2 district record.

The Elks opened the game on fire offensively and defensively as they raced out to a 24-0 lead before the Wildcats’ offense woke up. On their first possession of the game, Elkhart drove inside the Whitney 10 yard line. A penalty on fourth and one from the six, however, forced the Elks to settle for a 28 yard field goal from Jacob Walters.

On the ensuing kickoff, Whitney’s Devin Wilson returned the ball all the way inside the Elkhart red zone to the 18 yard line before he was dragged down from behind. The Wildcats picked up a first down to move inside the 10 yard line, but on fourth and goal from the one, the Elkhart defense slammed the door shut on the Wildcat scoring threat and stopped Whitney’s Dantay Owens short of the goal line.

Spurred on by the defense, the Elks drove the length of the field as Williams picked up 79 yards on five carries. On his fifth carry of the drive, Williams found the end zone for the first of his six TDs with a two yard plunge. Walters’ PAT was good and extended the Elkhart lead to 10-0.

On Whitney’s next possession, the Elkhart defense forced a turnover on downs and gave the ball right back to the Elk offense at the Wildcats’ 26. Three plays later, Elkhart QB Hunter Bush connected with wide-out Johnathon Simmons on a 19 yard scoring strike.

Following Walters’ PAT, things went from bad to worse for the Wildcats. The Whitney offense was still unable to generate any positive yardage and gave the ball right back to Elkhart. The Elks’ possession didn’t last very long as Williams broke free on a 71 yard touchdown gallop and with Walters’ extra point, the score now stood at 24-0.

The Wildcats finally managed to break into the scoring column on their next possession. Wilson – the Wildcats’ QB – saw receiver Noah Wilson had a step on the Elkhart defenders and heaved a bomb that Wilson was able to haul in for Whitney’s first score of the game. The try for two was no good, but the Wildcats had cut into the Elkhart lead and trailed by a score of 24-6.

Faced with a 17 point deficit, Whitney tried an onside kick, but to no avail. The Elks recovered the ball at their own 48 yard line and six plays later, Williams was back in the end zone with his third TD of the first half.

After a Wildcat punt, the Whitney defense was finally able to stop the Elkhart offense. When th Wildcats got the ball back, they went on a 53 yard drive that ended with a Wilson six yard touchdown and two point conversion which made the score 31-14.

Before the first half ended, both the Elks and Wildcats managed to score again and when Noah Weingant returned a kickoff for a TD in the second half, the Wildcats had cut the lead to 45-29.

Williams added his sixth touchdown of the game as the fourth quarter got underway to push the lead out to 53-29 and while the Wildcats were able to score twice in the final 12 minutes, the Elks’ lead was simply too much to overcome for Whitney as Elkhart held on to win by a final score of 53-45.

The win keeps the Elks in fourth place in District 9-3A DI and moves their overall record to 5-3 and 3-2 in district. Elkhart will travel to Groesbeck this Friday for a game with major playoff implications. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].