WARREN Former Harding standout believes Raiders similar to 1990 title team

Astron Whatley was a sophomore on Harding's last state final team.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
WARREN -- Astron Whatley, who played on Warren Harding High's last state football championship team in 1990, sees some similarities between that squad and this year's team, which plays in Saturday's Division I state final.
However, Whatley, who went on to become Kent State's all-time leading career rusher with 3,989 yards from 1994-97 as a four-year running back, also sees some dissimilarities between the squads.
Whatley, who saw the Raiders play once this year against Cleveland St. Ignatius, said both squads were and are deep in talent and powerhouses in their own rights.
"I can't recall any weak links on [our 1990] team," recalled the Warren resident, who was a sophomore back-up and special teams player on that Harding squad before becoming a two-year starter at running back. "We won all our games [14-0] and the state title. We had a lot of depth at each position. When one player went down, we had others to take their place.
"I see a lot of talent out there on the field [this year] in a lot of positions."
Complete squads
Whatley, 28, said both teams have complete squads.
"We had a lot of outstanding athletes. There was not a lot of [attention] directed to one particular athlete. It was a team effort," said Whatley, a 1998 graduate of KSU with a degree in industrial technology.
And this year, he said the success of coach Thom McDaniels' squad is "the entire package of the team" that faces Cincinnati Elder (13-1) Saturday at Fawcett Stadium at 8 p.m.
In addition, Whatley said both teams had very strong defenses and big and solid offensive lines.
"On our 1990 team, we had two rotating quarterbacks -- Chris Ensign and Chauncey Coleman. [We] didn't lose anything with either quarterback in there."
Similarly, this year's team rotates quarterbacks Mike Kokal and Mike Phillips, and each one is multi-talented and an effective leader.
QBs different, too
But the quarterbacks both years also were different.
"[Ensign and Coleman] had the ability to run, but they primarily passed because we had such good receivers [like] Omar Provitt, Tom Powell and Kendal Richardson," said Whatley.
This year, "It appears that they have an efficient passing game with this team here, but [Kokal and Phillips] are also strong runners when the passing game breaks down. They have the ability to improvise and pass the ball."
Also, "They have an all-around hard-nosed defense. They keep the opposition with low scores. In 1990, we had a similar kind of defense."
Comparing the offensive lines, Whatley said the 1990 team had such giants as the late Korey Stringer and also LeShun Daniels and Jason Flanigan, but, "I don't think they have that [size] now, but they still are effective this year."
Stringer and Daniels went on to become teammates at Ohio State and to make the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings.
But what Whatley remembers the most about his team was the closeness of the players and "the camaraderie of our team," he said.
kovach@vindy.com