Whitehall Coach Brian Gilbert sent a message early on how he was going to play the game last night at Zephyr Stadium. The Zephyrs held Pleasant Valley to a three and out, forcing a Bear punt. Whitehall took possession at the visitor’s 47-yard line. Quarterback Jeff Charles hit Conor Sullivan in the flat. He in turn tossed the ball back to Saquon Barkley who took it down the home sidelines for a quick 7-0 lead. That led Whitehall to a 21 point outburst to start the game. Pleasant Valley stayed strong throughout but too much Zephyr determination in the end gave Whitehall (10-1) a 56-28 win last night. This set up next week’s clash at home against the Trojans of Parkland.
“We wanted to come out fast and try to wear down the huge lineman,” Coach Gilbert stated. “They had the size advantage, so we wanted to use our speed and quickness against them. That’s a talented group of kids (Pleasant Valley). Davidson is a speedster, who gave us a lot of trouble on the edge tonight,” he added.
It was the “Killer B’s” show again tonight with both Saquon Barkley (20 carries 171 yards) and his backfield mate Ryan Bonshak (107 yards rushing) took control of the game by ground and via the air. Bonshak caught a 23- yard strike from Charles, who threw for 191 yards last night. Barkley scored twice more in the first half. One on a one yard run the other on a 12 yard scamper to give Whitehall a 35-21 lead at intermission. Bonshak also had two interceptions and a 89 yard kickoff return on the night.
“We were down a bit at half,” Charles said. “We made some mistakes and we hung our heads, but Ryan (Bonshak) got us pumped up at halftime and got us motivated for second half,” he concluded.
The second half Whitehall scored the first 21 points, including a 79 yard interception return by Chad Rex after a controversial helmet to helmet hit against the Zephyrs with 10:34 to go in the contest to give the home team a 56-21 lead.
“We get another crack at Parkland, what more can you ask for,” Bonshak stated. “It’s always emotional and I expect the same kind of game next week. We’ll be ready,” he concluded.
“Whitehall is a very balanced talented team,” said Pleasant Valley coach Jimmy Terwilliger. “We were up and we were down most of the night. We couldn’t find that balance needed to beat a team like Whitehall. They controlled the game.”
We shall see if that trend continues next week in the District semifinals.
