Miscues Costly In Warriors’ Road Loss
September 26, 2020 at 4:20 a.m.
Miscues Costly In Warriors’ Road Loss
By Alaister McFarren-
The game got off to a rough start for the Wawasee offense. Three plays into their opening drive, Young lost a fumble at the 36-yard line. Plymouth promptly marched the ball down the field and scored on a three-yard run by quarterback Jake Reichard.
On the subsequent Warrior possession, the offense fumbled once again, this time at midfield. Plymouth promptly scored on another three-yard run by Reichard, his second of the opening quarter.
“You can’t turn the ball over on your first two drives in your own territory,” said Wawasee head coach Jon Reutebuch. “It’s the same song and dance I’ve been talking about the last few games. When you turn over the ball on your first two drives and get behind the eight-ball, you’ve got to play catch-up; you’re not putting yourself in a good position.”
Throughout the entire first half, Reichard proved to be almost unstoppable for the usually staunch Wawasee defense. He scored all 22 of Plymouth’s points – three touchdowns and two two-point conversions – and ran the Warriors ragged.
“(Reichard) is a good athlete, and he broke a lot of tackles,” said Reutebuch. “We knew what was going to happen when he was playing quarterback, but I guess (Reichard) was better than our defense tonight.
He did all his damage in the first half with his legs; Reichard did not complete a pass leading up to the break. In fact, his only completed pass of the game was the 40-yard score he threw in the fourth quarter
Reichard scored his final touchdown of the first half on a 26-yard run with 1:57 to go, and the Warriors faced a 22-point deficit heading into the half.
Despite not scoring, the Wawasee offense was able to pass the ball seemingly at will against the Rockies’ defense prior to halftime. After the fumbles on their initial drives, they managed to put together three sustained drives; Young picked apart the opposition and marched the ball down the field quickly, but both the passing and running games stalled once they got just out of field goal range on each drive.
“We were able to move the ball between the twenties pretty well, but then penalties, lack of execution … we’re not completing drives. We just could not finish a drive until the very end,” Reutebuch said.
Plymouth scored a touchdown in each of the final two periods – a 77-yard run by Reichard, as he continued to gash the Warrior defensive line, and a 40-yard pass from Reichard to Devante Garcia – and locked down Wawasee’s offense until the second half of the fourth quarter during garbage time.
Wawasee’s Dominic Blair scored on a two-yard scramble and Cameron Zimmerman added a 12-yard dash with under a minute to go, but Caleb Clevenger missed both extra points to leave the final score at 37-12.
“Offensively, our execution is awful,” Reutebuch stated. “We’re going to have to make some personnel changes because this is not getting it done. We’re a better team than this.”
Reutebuch continued on to say that both he and his coaching staff were shocked by the game’s outcome.
“We felt like we had a chance to get a victory tonight,” he said. “We were fired up to start the second half, got it to the goal line, but then couldn’t convert. Then we had them backed up into the endzone, third and forever, and they busted out a big run. We’re not maintaining our focus all the way through. We’re going to look at the film this week and figure out what’s going on here.”
Wawasee (2-4, 0-4 NLC) will stay at home next week to take on Warsaw (5-1, 4-1 NLC).
PLYMOUTH 37, WAWASEE 12
W 0 0 0 12 – 12
P 14 8 8 7 – 37
P - Jake Reichard 3 run (Reichard run)
P - Reichard 3 run (2 pt attempt failed)
P - Reichard 26 run (Reichard run)
P - Reichard 40 pass to Devante Garcia (Adrian Cardona kick)
W - Dominic Blair 2 run (kick blocked)
W - Cameron Zimmerman 12 run (kick failed)
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The game got off to a rough start for the Wawasee offense. Three plays into their opening drive, Young lost a fumble at the 36-yard line. Plymouth promptly marched the ball down the field and scored on a three-yard run by quarterback Jake Reichard.
On the subsequent Warrior possession, the offense fumbled once again, this time at midfield. Plymouth promptly scored on another three-yard run by Reichard, his second of the opening quarter.
“You can’t turn the ball over on your first two drives in your own territory,” said Wawasee head coach Jon Reutebuch. “It’s the same song and dance I’ve been talking about the last few games. When you turn over the ball on your first two drives and get behind the eight-ball, you’ve got to play catch-up; you’re not putting yourself in a good position.”
Throughout the entire first half, Reichard proved to be almost unstoppable for the usually staunch Wawasee defense. He scored all 22 of Plymouth’s points – three touchdowns and two two-point conversions – and ran the Warriors ragged.
“(Reichard) is a good athlete, and he broke a lot of tackles,” said Reutebuch. “We knew what was going to happen when he was playing quarterback, but I guess (Reichard) was better than our defense tonight.
He did all his damage in the first half with his legs; Reichard did not complete a pass leading up to the break. In fact, his only completed pass of the game was the 40-yard score he threw in the fourth quarter
Reichard scored his final touchdown of the first half on a 26-yard run with 1:57 to go, and the Warriors faced a 22-point deficit heading into the half.
Despite not scoring, the Wawasee offense was able to pass the ball seemingly at will against the Rockies’ defense prior to halftime. After the fumbles on their initial drives, they managed to put together three sustained drives; Young picked apart the opposition and marched the ball down the field quickly, but both the passing and running games stalled once they got just out of field goal range on each drive.
“We were able to move the ball between the twenties pretty well, but then penalties, lack of execution … we’re not completing drives. We just could not finish a drive until the very end,” Reutebuch said.
Plymouth scored a touchdown in each of the final two periods – a 77-yard run by Reichard, as he continued to gash the Warrior defensive line, and a 40-yard pass from Reichard to Devante Garcia – and locked down Wawasee’s offense until the second half of the fourth quarter during garbage time.
Wawasee’s Dominic Blair scored on a two-yard scramble and Cameron Zimmerman added a 12-yard dash with under a minute to go, but Caleb Clevenger missed both extra points to leave the final score at 37-12.
“Offensively, our execution is awful,” Reutebuch stated. “We’re going to have to make some personnel changes because this is not getting it done. We’re a better team than this.”
Reutebuch continued on to say that both he and his coaching staff were shocked by the game’s outcome.
“We felt like we had a chance to get a victory tonight,” he said. “We were fired up to start the second half, got it to the goal line, but then couldn’t convert. Then we had them backed up into the endzone, third and forever, and they busted out a big run. We’re not maintaining our focus all the way through. We’re going to look at the film this week and figure out what’s going on here.”
Wawasee (2-4, 0-4 NLC) will stay at home next week to take on Warsaw (5-1, 4-1 NLC).
PLYMOUTH 37, WAWASEE 12
W 0 0 0 12 – 12
P 14 8 8 7 – 37
P - Jake Reichard 3 run (Reichard run)
P - Reichard 3 run (2 pt attempt failed)
P - Reichard 26 run (Reichard run)
P - Reichard 40 pass to Devante Garcia (Adrian Cardona kick)
W - Dominic Blair 2 run (kick blocked)
W - Cameron Zimmerman 12 run (kick failed)
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