Tigers Fall In Northern Lakes Conference Title Clash
October 16, 2021 at 4:15 a.m.
Tigers Fall In Northern Lakes Conference Title Clash
By Dale [email protected]
That’s how Warsaw football coach Bart Curtis described his team’s 26-22 loss to the host Minutemen, who celebrated an outright Northern Lakes Conference title after scoring the game-winning touchdown with 50 seconds remaining in a battle of state-ranked teams that were both 6-0 in league play.
With Class 6A No. 9 Warsaw leading 22-20, 5A No. 7 Concord’s defense stopped the Tigers on 4th-and-3 at the Minutemen 22-yard line.
That’s when Concord senior quarterback Hunter Dutton took over, going 10 of 10 through the air on the game’s final drive, and throwing a 21-yard touchdown pass to classmate Jack D’Arcy that extended the Minutemen’s win streak to eight games and halted the Tigers’ win streak at six.
Concord attempted a two-point conversion pass, but faltered.
After a squib kick went out of bounds, Warsaw started at its own 35-yard line with a chance to hand Concord its first loss at Jake Field since 2018.
Like the first possession of the game, however, the Tigers fumbled the ball away and Concord improved to 8-1 overall and 7-0 in the NLC.
The Tigers fell to 7-2 and 6-1.
“They made the plays, they took care of business, they made the last drive,” Curtis said of the Minutemen. “We told the kids, these things turn out sometimes the way they’re supposed to, so we’ll see.”
With all 6A teams getting a week off before postseason play, and then Warsaw drawing a bye in the sectional, the Tigers won’t play again until Nov. 5 when they travel to either Carroll or Homestead for a sectional final.
Dutton finished Friday’s game 26 of 40 through the air for 238 yards.
Concord coach Craig Koehler wasn’t surprised by the late-game poise of his standout signal caller.
“He’s a veteran, he’s a senior,” Koehler said of Dutton. “He’s a winner. He’s the best quarterback in the league, no doubt about it. He’s had an incredible year.”
D’Arcy made nine catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns, while senior Amarion Moore had 11 receptions for 81 yards and a score.
D’Arcy caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Dutton early in the first quarter, as the Minutemen capitalized on Warsaw’s first-possession fumble.
The Tigers knotted the game at 7-7 when Bryson Brown scored on a 24-yard run with 3:21 left in the first quarter.
Facing a 4th-and-1 on its own 17-yard line, Curtis gambled, and it paid off as senior Julius Jones sprinted 81 yards to the Concord 2-yard line.
Jones powered his way into the endzone two plays later, and Warsaw led 14-7.
Concord’s Adrian Martinez blocked a Warsaw punt, and the teams went into the intermission tied after Dutton found Anthony Trudell for a 1-yard scoring strike with nine seconds left in the second stanza.
The Tigers regained the lead when junior quarterback Tucker Curtis raced in from 26-yards out, and Warsaw converted a 2-point conversion on a broken play for a 22-14 advantage.
An 11-yard pass from Dutton to Moore cut Warsaw’s lead to 22-20, and a 2-point conversion to tie the game failed.
The touchdown pass to Moore almost didn’t happen, as earlier in the drive Concord faced a 4th-and-23 situation, but a costly roughing the punter penalty on the Tigers gave the Minutemen a fresh set of downs.
“Self-inflicted, but also praise for (Concord),” said Curtis when asked about his team’s costly miscues. “(Concord) didn’t fold when they had opporunities to when it was going our way and they kept fighting and playing the next play. The punt block right before halftime was huge.”
Koehler spoke of his respect for Curtis, and how good of a team Warsaw is.
“I said all week we would be prepared, they would be prepared, both teams would play with fanatical effort, it was gonna come down to 15-year-old to 18-year-old kids making plays.
“In this kind of game you have two really good teams, and it comes down to kids making plays.”
The Tigers rushed for 280 yards on 51 attempts, and finished the game with four yards through the air on 1-of-3 passing.
Jones led Warsaw with 122 yards on 15 carries, while Jayce Sawyer had 18 carries for 45 yards, and Tucker Curtis 10 for 47.
Friday’s game marked the first time since 2001 that two teams entered the final week of NLC play with perfect conference records.
That game 20 years ago also featured Warsaw and Concord, and the Tigers won that game 42-7.
It was Koehler’s first year as an assistant coach at Concord.
“This was an awesome atmosphere,” said Koehler. “I had multiple people, other coaches, tell me ‘make sure you enjoy this week.’”
“I can tell you right now, when you have to prepare to defend that stuff (Warsaw’s offense) it’s hard to enjoy during the week. That being said, I did try tonight to take a breath and say ‘hey this is pretty awesome.’ It’s been 20 years since we had two 6-0 teams, and that was my first year at Concord, and Warsaw kicked our butts with guys like Brad Seiss.”
That’s how Warsaw football coach Bart Curtis described his team’s 26-22 loss to the host Minutemen, who celebrated an outright Northern Lakes Conference title after scoring the game-winning touchdown with 50 seconds remaining in a battle of state-ranked teams that were both 6-0 in league play.
With Class 6A No. 9 Warsaw leading 22-20, 5A No. 7 Concord’s defense stopped the Tigers on 4th-and-3 at the Minutemen 22-yard line.
That’s when Concord senior quarterback Hunter Dutton took over, going 10 of 10 through the air on the game’s final drive, and throwing a 21-yard touchdown pass to classmate Jack D’Arcy that extended the Minutemen’s win streak to eight games and halted the Tigers’ win streak at six.
Concord attempted a two-point conversion pass, but faltered.
After a squib kick went out of bounds, Warsaw started at its own 35-yard line with a chance to hand Concord its first loss at Jake Field since 2018.
Like the first possession of the game, however, the Tigers fumbled the ball away and Concord improved to 8-1 overall and 7-0 in the NLC.
The Tigers fell to 7-2 and 6-1.
“They made the plays, they took care of business, they made the last drive,” Curtis said of the Minutemen. “We told the kids, these things turn out sometimes the way they’re supposed to, so we’ll see.”
With all 6A teams getting a week off before postseason play, and then Warsaw drawing a bye in the sectional, the Tigers won’t play again until Nov. 5 when they travel to either Carroll or Homestead for a sectional final.
Dutton finished Friday’s game 26 of 40 through the air for 238 yards.
Concord coach Craig Koehler wasn’t surprised by the late-game poise of his standout signal caller.
“He’s a veteran, he’s a senior,” Koehler said of Dutton. “He’s a winner. He’s the best quarterback in the league, no doubt about it. He’s had an incredible year.”
D’Arcy made nine catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns, while senior Amarion Moore had 11 receptions for 81 yards and a score.
D’Arcy caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Dutton early in the first quarter, as the Minutemen capitalized on Warsaw’s first-possession fumble.
The Tigers knotted the game at 7-7 when Bryson Brown scored on a 24-yard run with 3:21 left in the first quarter.
Facing a 4th-and-1 on its own 17-yard line, Curtis gambled, and it paid off as senior Julius Jones sprinted 81 yards to the Concord 2-yard line.
Jones powered his way into the endzone two plays later, and Warsaw led 14-7.
Concord’s Adrian Martinez blocked a Warsaw punt, and the teams went into the intermission tied after Dutton found Anthony Trudell for a 1-yard scoring strike with nine seconds left in the second stanza.
The Tigers regained the lead when junior quarterback Tucker Curtis raced in from 26-yards out, and Warsaw converted a 2-point conversion on a broken play for a 22-14 advantage.
An 11-yard pass from Dutton to Moore cut Warsaw’s lead to 22-20, and a 2-point conversion to tie the game failed.
The touchdown pass to Moore almost didn’t happen, as earlier in the drive Concord faced a 4th-and-23 situation, but a costly roughing the punter penalty on the Tigers gave the Minutemen a fresh set of downs.
“Self-inflicted, but also praise for (Concord),” said Curtis when asked about his team’s costly miscues. “(Concord) didn’t fold when they had opporunities to when it was going our way and they kept fighting and playing the next play. The punt block right before halftime was huge.”
Koehler spoke of his respect for Curtis, and how good of a team Warsaw is.
“I said all week we would be prepared, they would be prepared, both teams would play with fanatical effort, it was gonna come down to 15-year-old to 18-year-old kids making plays.
“In this kind of game you have two really good teams, and it comes down to kids making plays.”
The Tigers rushed for 280 yards on 51 attempts, and finished the game with four yards through the air on 1-of-3 passing.
Jones led Warsaw with 122 yards on 15 carries, while Jayce Sawyer had 18 carries for 45 yards, and Tucker Curtis 10 for 47.
Friday’s game marked the first time since 2001 that two teams entered the final week of NLC play with perfect conference records.
That game 20 years ago also featured Warsaw and Concord, and the Tigers won that game 42-7.
It was Koehler’s first year as an assistant coach at Concord.
“This was an awesome atmosphere,” said Koehler. “I had multiple people, other coaches, tell me ‘make sure you enjoy this week.’”
“I can tell you right now, when you have to prepare to defend that stuff (Warsaw’s offense) it’s hard to enjoy during the week. That being said, I did try tonight to take a breath and say ‘hey this is pretty awesome.’ It’s been 20 years since we had two 6-0 teams, and that was my first year at Concord, and Warsaw kicked our butts with guys like Brad Seiss.”
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