Seeing Union Grove for a second time posed no problem at all for Whitewater in Friday’s Region 4-AAAAA play-in game at Union Grove.
Quarterback Jay Ashley was nearly flawless, and the Whitewater defense stymied Union Grove all night in a 36-13 win, giving the Wildcats (7-3) a spot in the state playoffs for the third time in four years.
Whitewater improved to 11-0 all-time against Henry County schools.
“We’re just progressing, all of us, and getting better,” said Ashley, who passed for 144 yards and had a stretch of 10 consecutive completed passes in the first half.
“It feels good. We knew that we weren’t where we wanted to be around week 6 or 7. We knew we had to change some stuff, and I think that’s what we did.”
Ashley had three touchdown passes and added a rushing touchdown to put the game away.
The Whitewater defense did the rest, holding Union Grove to 19 yards over the first three quarters before both teams put in their reserves.
The Wildcats defense allowed one first down in the first half, during which the Wolverines managed 15 yards and punted on four of five possessions.
The other one ended in a safety after quarterback Jonathan Slade was penalized for intentional grounding from the end zone.
“It was great. The pre-snap reads helped us a lot,” defensive lineman Matt Ogle said. “What the coaches put together really helped us out, knowing what they were going to run before they snapped the ball. I thought they would switch it up a little bit, but nearly everything we saw, we saw in the first game as well.”
Christian Wafford had 83 rushing yards, and Ryan May rushed for 93 yards and a touchdown for Whitewater.
“I think we played defensively like we played early in the season,” Whitewater coach Amos McCreary said. “When you start playing well, maybe we can go into next week thinking we’ve got a chance.”
The Wildcats drove 56 yards on 10 plays to score on the opening possession, the points coming on a 26-yard pass from Ashley to Luke Allen.
On Whitewater’s next possession, Ogle got behind the Union Grove defense and hauled in an 18-yard touchdown pass, capping another 10-play drive in the first quarter.
Whitewater went up 20-0 with 4:42 left in the first half on Ashley’s third touchdown pass, a 19-yarder to Avery Roth, who grabbed the ball inside the 10-yard line and fought his way past the goal line.
The score came after a muffed punt Whitewater recovered at the Union Grove 25.
Jake Kaufman scored on a 4-yard run and connected with Ryan Atkins on a 16-yard touchdown pass for Union Grove.
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