Football traditions can range from pregame rituals to the similarity between a team’s helmets of today and decades earlier.
At Whiteland, it’s about owning a month.
Since Darrin Fisher became head coach in 2005, the Warriors have won 75 percent of games played in October, a success rate attributed to myriad factors, most notably player development, knowledge of schemes and tendencies through repetition and changing temperatures.
“It’s the weather. We love playing in the cold and hitting hard,” said senior running back Gavin Lutz, one of five Warrior ball carriers with 250 or more rushing yards for the season. “And I think it’s momentum through the season. October is the end of the (regular) season, but the start of something good. This is our time to shine.”
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Last week’s 21-10 defeat of visiting Plainfield improved the Warriors’ October record to 42-14 under Fisher. A win against Greenwood tonight would give them five unbeaten Octobers in that time.
Even half of the October losses are close, with final spreads of seven points or less.
Fisher’s defense, led by senior three-year starters Jacob Brown, A.J. Beil, Jacob Schultz and Jaylen Dunlap, allows 18.3 points a game. During the team’s current four-game win streak, that average has dropped to 10.5. In its six games against Mid-State Conference opponents, the Warriors have surrendered a league-low sum of 100 points.
“Whenever it gets cold and you get hit, it hurts a little more,” said Brown, a free safety. “The coaches build a relationship with the players and we all put in the work. We try to stay humble around here.”
The majority of Whiteland players started organized football in the town’s bantam league, learning fundamentals and the most basic version of the offense and defense that Warrior teams run in middle school and high school.
In the process, they adopt the mindset that Whiteland football improves as the season progresses.
“I know that they run the same offense and defense starting in bantam, but you really start to get into the fundamentals of it in middle school,” said Beil, a defensive lineman whose 61 tackles rank second on the team behind Schultz’s 91. “Once you get to the freshman level, things start to click and start to move a lot faster. “Every year they’ll add some new plays and new formations.
“I’ve always heard we play better as the season goes on. As the season starts, we’re a little rough. It’s not an easy offense or defense to run with all the motions we do, but as the season goes on we run things smoother, make more plays and become more confident in each other.”
“It’s a lot of fundamentals and just getting better at the basics like coach Fisher preaches,” Schultz said. “We think we are better this time of year because the weather gets colder and we like to hit harder than other teams in October.”
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TONIGHT’S GAMES
Whiteland at Greenwood, 7 p.m.
Center Grove vs. Cathedral at Arsenal Tech, 7 p.m.
Franklin at Decatur Central, 7 p.m.
Northview at Indian Creek (WIC championship), 7 p.m.
Indianapolis Crimson Knights at Edinburgh, 7 p.m.
Guerin Catholic at Roncalli, 7 p.m.
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