COLUMBIA CITY – The turnover bug bit the Whitko football team hard again Friday night.

The Wildcats were hurt by miscues in dropping a 34-14 final at Columbia City.

The host Eagles built a 28-0 lead en route to evening their season mark at 1-1. City was coming off a loss at Warsaw in the opener.

Whitko, which dropped its opener 42-20 at Wawasee, threw three interceptions and lost one fumble in the contest. The Eagles had no turnovers in the game.

The Wildcats, who drop to 0-2, did rush for 312 yards in the game.

Tanner Hughes scored on a pair of short touchdown runs to lead Whitko. Hughes rushed for 88 yards on 20 carries on the night.

Trace Killian led the productive ground game for coach Josh Mohr’s team with eight carries for 105 yards. Ethan Nicodemus collected 72 yards on 13 carries from his quarterback position and Devin Gerding had six rushes for 43 yards.

City quarterback Travis Herbst threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score to lead the hosts. Tailback Braden Myers rushed for 89 yards and scored on two short runs for the Eagles.

Columbia City, which beat Whitko 43-13 last season, led 14-0 at halftime and 28-7 at the end of the third quarter.

Whitko (0-2) opens Three Rivers Conference play at Southwood next Friday.  Columbia City (1-1) plays at Bellmont next Friday evening.