The redemption tour continues for Whitney High School. A year after going 0-10, a surprise turnaround story rolled on Friday as the Wildcats stunned top-seeded Rocklin 28-6 in a section Division II quarterfinal behind big plays from Will Fischer, Dom Spence and Nick Tawney. After 12 weeks, Whitney is finally .500 at 6-6 with plenty of season to go under second-year coach Zac McNally. “This team has been through a lot,” McNally said. “We don’t want this ride to stop. This is a special group that has laid it all on the line for the last two years.” Friday marked Whitney’s first win over Rocklin since 2015 and the school’s first section semifinals appearance since 2011. Rocklin leads the all-time series 8-3. Whitney came into the game with a unique advantage, despite being the lower seed. The Wildcats hosted because Rocklin violated section bylaw 201a last spring. The context is eighth graders from other schools were lifting in the Rocklin High weight room, which was deemed a wrongful contact for varsity coaches. Friday was a sell-out crowd. “It’s always great playing in front of the X-Factor,” McNally said on playing in front of Whitney’s student section. “They really showed up tonight. I love this city.” Whitney’s Fischer scored on a 2-yard run for a 7-3 lead. He rushed for 178 yards, which feels like the gap between the two schools. It’s actually 3.1 miles, but that’s how much room Fischer had to roam. McNally has been pushing Fischer for that kind of performance all season. “I’m so proud of Will,” McNally said. “I have been calling him out all year on finishing runs. He ran with a purpose tonight and he answered the bell tonight.” Tawney got the Wildcats student section on their feet on back-to-back defensive series. His first interception on Rocklin quarterback Richie Watts gave his offense short-field position. That led to a 14-yard touchdown pass from Eli Brickhandler to Spence, who finished with four catches for 48 yards and also had a 12-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. “I watched a lot of film this week and studied the routes,” Tawney said. “I just jumped both of the routes because I saw what the receivers were doing. I just wanted to make the plays.” On the following drive, Tawney intercepted Watts again and returned it for a 38-yard touchdown. After the interceptions, he ran to the Whitney sideline and accepted the team’s “turnover belt,” presented to any player on the Wildcats who forces a turnover. He still wore it proudly around his waist after the game. The student fans even broke out the “MVP” chant for Tawney after his second interception. Watts and Tawney have history. They grew up playing together for the Whitney Jr. Wildcats feeder program and have remained friends. Tawney has been a key component of McNally’s defense since taking over for injured starting cornerback Sirr Butler, who hasn’t played since Week 4. “At first, I was going to play for Rocklin’s youth program,” Tawney said. “But then my friend Richie Watts convinced me to play for Whitney’s youth program. My first year of football was my midget year. Even though Richie left for Rocklin, I stayed at Whitney because I love the culture of the school.” Whitney will now face the winner of Central Catholic and Jesuit in the semifinals. Those teams play on Saturday. Whitney players and coaches will watch at Jesuit to scout. Because Whitney keeps winning, winter sports for players like Spence will be put on hold, which he doesn’t mind. After the game, he embraced his basketball coach Nick French, who has been a big influence on his life and athletic career. “He has been super supportive of me,” Spence said on French. “He understands we can go win a section title and that’s something he wants us to do. When basketball season hits, he wants us to win a section title there too.” Spence was another player who didn’t start his career at Whitney. He started at Lincoln, but then switched to Whitney’s youth program in sixth grade. Ever since youth football, he and his team hasn’t beaten Rocklin. That changed on Friday. “It feels amazing,” Spence said on finally beating Rocklin. “I have been wanting to beat Rocklin ever since I came to Whitney.”