THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

Whitney High football lost its last game of the 2017 campaign to Antelope High, 38-14, in Capital Valley Conference play Friday night at Titan Stadium. Last week, Whitney lost to Cosumnes Oaks 25-3 while Antelope beat Bella Vista 55-0. With the score 3-0 early in the first quarter against Antelope, the Cats’ got on the board with a 2-yard touchdown run by senior Michael Hamp. The drive was aided by two huge catches by senior Ben Sopinski. Hamp, filling in admirably for an injury-riddled running-back corps, finished with 26 yards on seven carries. After that, the Titans took over. Antelope chipped away at Whitney’s defense with a steady dose of runs, timely short passes and a fake punt. That eventually led to two hard-earned touchdown runs; the latter occurred on fourth down with just seconds on the clock. The Wildcats went into halftime down 17-7. The second half didn’t fare any better for Whitney. Antelope continued to pound away with the running game and, eventually, wore down the Wildcats’ defense. The Titans’ rushing attack finished with 308 yards on 58 carries. Whitney senior linebacker Michael Hirsch had a huge game, finishing with a game-high 16 tackles. Hirsch was either tackling Titans’ running backs or joining in on tackles with fellow Wildcats. Sam Salva and Nathan Sanchez added 10 tackles each. Dagne’ Buck and Justin Kraft had nine. Preston Deruelle had eight. The Cats’ passing game had moderate success, but the offense couldn’t sustain drives due to a stingy Titans’ defense. Quarterback Robert Jones threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Mark Clark late in the fourth quarter. Jones finished 16-of-25 for 221 yards and one score. Kraft had a team-high five catches and 102 receiving yards. Whitney ended the 2017 season 5-5 (4-3 CVC); next season, the Cats’ move on to the Sierra Foothill League. Antelope finished the regular season 9-1 (6-1 CVC) and qualified for the playoffs.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

WHITNEY CLOSES OUT WITH LOSS AT ANTELOPE

STAFF

Placer Herald | 11/8/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Placer Herald