Whitehall’s Wentling is a champion, and he is only going to get better
Whitehall football coach Matt Senneca admits he is biased.
But in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference full of talented quarterbacks, Senneca thinks he might have the best one wearing maroon and gold.
Junior Quinn Wentling had a breakthrough year in 2020 and ends his season as the EPC leader in passing and No. 2 in rushing with nearly 2,100 yards combined in just eight games.
“If you just focus on him and what he means to our team, I think he’s the best QB in the league right now,” Senneca said. “He’s tough to prepare for because of the stuff he can make happen when the play breaks down. Obviously there are players with better stats, but when you factor in all the intangibles, I feel you can make an argument for him.”
There’s no arguing Wentling’s improvement this season as Whitehall went from 0-10 in 2019 to 5-3 and a District 11 5A championship.
“Quinnwasalot morecomfortable this year after getting time last year as a sophomore,” said Senneca, who won three district titles as a quarterback at Central Catholic in the 1990s.
“His biggest area of growth was his understanding of our offensive scheme and what we were trying to take advantage of, and also his understanding of defenses. He’s a really smart kid when it comes to football and understanding the game.”
Whitehall’s losses were to Central Catholic, Parkland and Emmaus. In each game, Wentling found some success while competing in adverse situations.
“You could see him take control of the offense and you saw those guys on offense look to him whenthings weren’t going right,” Senneca said.
Obviously, Wentling and an abundance of returning playmakers are primed for a big season in 2021.
“We have a lot of guys coming back and the expectations are not going to change for next year,” Senneca said. “These guys know what they need to do and I’m looking for them to take a big step forward.”
Here are the EPC football stat leaders entering the last weekend of district title games involving EPC teams:
RUSHING
Jayden Williams, CCHS 124 Q Wentling,Whitehall 85 Nahjee Adams, Easton 108 Jace Tutty, Stroudsburg 79 J Bowens, Poc. Mt. West 105 B Camire,Emmaus 86 Tyler Rohn, Nazareth 105 Matt Russin, Freedom 84 D Crawford, Freedom 66 C Arringto,ESS 44
PASSING
Q Wentling, Whitehall 101 186 6 1,365 12 Matt Bugbee, Nazareth 97 153 1 1,338 10 Jake Fotta, Emmaus 67 126 5 1,068 9 Matt Rauscher, CCHS 72 126 3 875 9 Will Fish, ESS 41 56 0 817 13