Sawyer Helps Tigers Stay Perfect In Northen Lakes Conference
October 9, 2021 at 4:11 a.m.
Sawyer Helps Tigers Stay Perfect In Northen Lakes Conference
By Dale [email protected]
The junior fullback, however, played much larger than his stature and turned in a monster performance as the Tigers stayed unbeaten in Northern Lakes Conference play with a 42-24 win over the visiting NorthWood Panthers.
Sawyer shouldered the workload for Warsaw’s trademark running game, carrying the ball 32 times for 163 yards, including a 1-yard plunge with 2:06 remaining in the first quarter that tied the score at 14-14.
“He ain’t 140 pounds … well, maybe with his uniform and everything on,” Warsaw coach Bart Curtis joked of Sawyer.
“But seriously, he has done a nice job of ripping it up in there. He takes care of the football. He’s a tough little guy. Size doesn’t matter to him. He thinks he’s 6-2 and 240 pounds. He played really hard.”
After trailing 14-7, the Tigers, who improved to 7-1 overall and 6-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference for the first time since 2001, scored 21 unanswered points.
Sawyer’s 1-yard plunge made it 14-14, and then junior halfback Bryson Brown - just 5-7 and 160 pounds himself - gave the hosts a 21-14 advantage on a 13-yard run with 52 seconds left in the second stanza.
The Tigers widened the gap to 28-14 when 5-7, 150-pound junior quarterback Tucker Curtis powered his way in from a yard out at the 8:17 mark of the third quarter.
NorthWood trimmed the Warsaw lead with a 25-yard field goal with 4:30 left in the third quarter, but the Tigers responded with a 1-yard touchdown run from senior highlight reel Julius Jones, known for his speed and elusiveness.
The Panthers, who fell to 4-4 overall and 3-3 in league play, answered immediately, making things interesting with an 86-yard scoring strike from sophomore signal caller Owen Roeder to junior receiver J.J. Payne just 18 seconds after Jones’ score.
Warsaw closed the door with a 2-yard touchdown run from Jones with 4:27 remaining in the game to account for the final 18-point margin.
“It wasn’t easy that’s for sure,” said Curtis, who now has 232 wins in his hall of fame career. “NorthWood has speed all over the place. They’ve got a good passing attack, and they gave us everything we wanted and more.
“They’re really young. They’re going to be tough to deal with the rest of this year and the next couple years.”
Jones complimented Sawyer’s performance with 17 carries for 73 yards and three TDs, while Curtis tallied 11 carries for 57 yards and a score, and Brown finished with two rushes for 24 yards and two TDs.
The majority of NorthWood’s 381 yards of offense came via the passing game.
Roeder completed 21 of 35 attempts for 334 yards with two TDs and an interception, a pass that was picked off by Warsaw junior Trey Koontz.
Payne led the Panthers receiving corps with five catches for 159 yards, while sophomore NiTareon Tuggle added five catches for 87 yards,
Junior Luke Miller led NorthWood’s ground game with 14 carries for 62 yards, though the team finished with just 40 yards rushing after sacks and other tackles for loss by the Warsaw defense.
With the win, Warsaw will play for an outright conference title Friday in Dunlap against the Concord Minutemen, who improved to 7-1 overall and 6-0 in the NLC with a win over Northridge.
Concord has won seven games in a row following a 12-7 loss to Elkhart in the season opener.
“We need a good week of practice,” Curtis said of the showdown with Concord. “We’ve told our kids since Week 3 (when conference play started) that every Friday night is a trophy game, and now next Friday night somebody’s gonna hold one.”
The junior fullback, however, played much larger than his stature and turned in a monster performance as the Tigers stayed unbeaten in Northern Lakes Conference play with a 42-24 win over the visiting NorthWood Panthers.
Sawyer shouldered the workload for Warsaw’s trademark running game, carrying the ball 32 times for 163 yards, including a 1-yard plunge with 2:06 remaining in the first quarter that tied the score at 14-14.
“He ain’t 140 pounds … well, maybe with his uniform and everything on,” Warsaw coach Bart Curtis joked of Sawyer.
“But seriously, he has done a nice job of ripping it up in there. He takes care of the football. He’s a tough little guy. Size doesn’t matter to him. He thinks he’s 6-2 and 240 pounds. He played really hard.”
After trailing 14-7, the Tigers, who improved to 7-1 overall and 6-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference for the first time since 2001, scored 21 unanswered points.
Sawyer’s 1-yard plunge made it 14-14, and then junior halfback Bryson Brown - just 5-7 and 160 pounds himself - gave the hosts a 21-14 advantage on a 13-yard run with 52 seconds left in the second stanza.
The Tigers widened the gap to 28-14 when 5-7, 150-pound junior quarterback Tucker Curtis powered his way in from a yard out at the 8:17 mark of the third quarter.
NorthWood trimmed the Warsaw lead with a 25-yard field goal with 4:30 left in the third quarter, but the Tigers responded with a 1-yard touchdown run from senior highlight reel Julius Jones, known for his speed and elusiveness.
The Panthers, who fell to 4-4 overall and 3-3 in league play, answered immediately, making things interesting with an 86-yard scoring strike from sophomore signal caller Owen Roeder to junior receiver J.J. Payne just 18 seconds after Jones’ score.
Warsaw closed the door with a 2-yard touchdown run from Jones with 4:27 remaining in the game to account for the final 18-point margin.
“It wasn’t easy that’s for sure,” said Curtis, who now has 232 wins in his hall of fame career. “NorthWood has speed all over the place. They’ve got a good passing attack, and they gave us everything we wanted and more.
“They’re really young. They’re going to be tough to deal with the rest of this year and the next couple years.”
Jones complimented Sawyer’s performance with 17 carries for 73 yards and three TDs, while Curtis tallied 11 carries for 57 yards and a score, and Brown finished with two rushes for 24 yards and two TDs.
The majority of NorthWood’s 381 yards of offense came via the passing game.
Roeder completed 21 of 35 attempts for 334 yards with two TDs and an interception, a pass that was picked off by Warsaw junior Trey Koontz.
Payne led the Panthers receiving corps with five catches for 159 yards, while sophomore NiTareon Tuggle added five catches for 87 yards,
Junior Luke Miller led NorthWood’s ground game with 14 carries for 62 yards, though the team finished with just 40 yards rushing after sacks and other tackles for loss by the Warsaw defense.
With the win, Warsaw will play for an outright conference title Friday in Dunlap against the Concord Minutemen, who improved to 7-1 overall and 6-0 in the NLC with a win over Northridge.
Concord has won seven games in a row following a 12-7 loss to Elkhart in the season opener.
“We need a good week of practice,” Curtis said of the showdown with Concord. “We’ve told our kids since Week 3 (when conference play started) that every Friday night is a trophy game, and now next Friday night somebody’s gonna hold one.”
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