Balanced Attack Leads Indians Past Warriors
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Evenly distributing the ball, St. Joe had 209 yards on the ground and 204 in the air, leading to a 35-7 victory in high school football action.
“We’re not going to give excuses out of this, because they’re such a good football program,” Wawasee coach Tom Wogomon said.
The best of the Indians was 6-foot-6, 191-pound junior quarterback Anthony Monserez, who completed 13 of 18 passes for 204 yards and a score in just his second varsity start.
“He has a lot of natural gifts, and on top of his natural gifts, he’s a phenomenal leader,” St. Joe coach Ben Downey said. “We’re happy he’s the leader of our team.”
Sitting in the pocket, Monserez was able to pick the Warriors’ defense apart.
“Bar none, that was one of the best passing games we’ve seen in a long time,” Wogomon said. “We’re going to watch some film, but there were some times when we just got caught flat exposed on.”
Monserez’s top target was junior Eric Mossey, who hauled in eight passes for 152 yards and two scores.
Mossey’s second catch of the game set up St. Joe’s first score, as senior Kevin McFadden plunged in from two yards out with 2:45 left in the first quarter after Mossey snagged a 34-yard pass.
In the second quarter, Monserez found Mossey for a 41-yard hookup that set up the Indians at the Wawasee 1-yard line, where sophomore Tajah Smith scored one play later.
Down 14-0 with just under five minutes remaining in the half, Wawasee bounced back with a eight-play, 63-yard drive capped by a nine-yard touchdown pass from senior D.J. Semon to junior Austin Lutz with just 1:05 remaining.
However, St. Joe wasn’t packing it in.
Set up at their own 27-yard line, the Indians went with a run up the middle, and junior Ryan Jankowski took it 61 yards to the Wawasee 12.
“That was a major turning point and we were very lucky to get momentum,” Downey said. “Every time you call a play, if everyone does their job, it’s supposed to be a touchdown, but we certainly didn’t expect that.”
Two plays later, McFadden scored his second touchdown and swung the momentum back to St. Joe, who went into the half up 21-7.
“In the first half, it was really about three plays,” Wogomon said. “The one that stings us the most is the (isolation run) they ran. We score, it’s a minute to go and we have momentum hard in our corner. Then, we give up that big inside run. They did a nice job of blocking it, but we kind of rolled off thinking they were going to throw because they’d been doing it all night. And heck if they didn’t run an iso play inside on us.”
Opening the second half with possession, St. Joe ate up 5:36 of the clock, going 73 yards in 11 plays, culminating with a 10-yard touchdown strike from Monserez to Mossey.
Smith scored again for St. Joe in the fourth, sprinting up the middle for a 74-yard touchdown run with 5:44, but by that time, the outcome had been decided.
“The thing I’m going to be disappointed in is if we don’t have a great week of practice and we don’t come ready for the (Northern Lakes Conference) next week,” Wogomon said.
Jankowski led the Indians’ ground attack with 107 yards on 10 carries, with Smith adding 93 on 11.
For Wawasee, senior Derrick Sorensen and Semon had success, running for 72 and 59 yards, respectively.
However, when it needed to, the Indians’ defense stepped up.
“I’m pretty proud of our Black Shirt defense,” Downey said. “They did everything we asked of them, expect they didn’t tackle as well as they usually do. But part of that needs to be credit given to the Wawasee runners. They had a couple ball carriers that are big, strong, physical runners. I wouldn’t be surprised if most teams they play need multiple defenders to bring them down. They’re just that physical.”
And Northridge will be the first team to take on the physical backs Friday back in Syracuse.
“All goals for us are still attainable,” Wogomon said. “The big picture is about playing the NLC schedule. I hate losing. I know there should be 60 guys over there that hate losing. All we can do is just come back with some resolve.”[[In-content Ad]]
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Evenly distributing the ball, St. Joe had 209 yards on the ground and 204 in the air, leading to a 35-7 victory in high school football action.
“We’re not going to give excuses out of this, because they’re such a good football program,” Wawasee coach Tom Wogomon said.
The best of the Indians was 6-foot-6, 191-pound junior quarterback Anthony Monserez, who completed 13 of 18 passes for 204 yards and a score in just his second varsity start.
“He has a lot of natural gifts, and on top of his natural gifts, he’s a phenomenal leader,” St. Joe coach Ben Downey said. “We’re happy he’s the leader of our team.”
Sitting in the pocket, Monserez was able to pick the Warriors’ defense apart.
“Bar none, that was one of the best passing games we’ve seen in a long time,” Wogomon said. “We’re going to watch some film, but there were some times when we just got caught flat exposed on.”
Monserez’s top target was junior Eric Mossey, who hauled in eight passes for 152 yards and two scores.
Mossey’s second catch of the game set up St. Joe’s first score, as senior Kevin McFadden plunged in from two yards out with 2:45 left in the first quarter after Mossey snagged a 34-yard pass.
In the second quarter, Monserez found Mossey for a 41-yard hookup that set up the Indians at the Wawasee 1-yard line, where sophomore Tajah Smith scored one play later.
Down 14-0 with just under five minutes remaining in the half, Wawasee bounced back with a eight-play, 63-yard drive capped by a nine-yard touchdown pass from senior D.J. Semon to junior Austin Lutz with just 1:05 remaining.
However, St. Joe wasn’t packing it in.
Set up at their own 27-yard line, the Indians went with a run up the middle, and junior Ryan Jankowski took it 61 yards to the Wawasee 12.
“That was a major turning point and we were very lucky to get momentum,” Downey said. “Every time you call a play, if everyone does their job, it’s supposed to be a touchdown, but we certainly didn’t expect that.”
Two plays later, McFadden scored his second touchdown and swung the momentum back to St. Joe, who went into the half up 21-7.
“In the first half, it was really about three plays,” Wogomon said. “The one that stings us the most is the (isolation run) they ran. We score, it’s a minute to go and we have momentum hard in our corner. Then, we give up that big inside run. They did a nice job of blocking it, but we kind of rolled off thinking they were going to throw because they’d been doing it all night. And heck if they didn’t run an iso play inside on us.”
Opening the second half with possession, St. Joe ate up 5:36 of the clock, going 73 yards in 11 plays, culminating with a 10-yard touchdown strike from Monserez to Mossey.
Smith scored again for St. Joe in the fourth, sprinting up the middle for a 74-yard touchdown run with 5:44, but by that time, the outcome had been decided.
“The thing I’m going to be disappointed in is if we don’t have a great week of practice and we don’t come ready for the (Northern Lakes Conference) next week,” Wogomon said.
Jankowski led the Indians’ ground attack with 107 yards on 10 carries, with Smith adding 93 on 11.
For Wawasee, senior Derrick Sorensen and Semon had success, running for 72 and 59 yards, respectively.
However, when it needed to, the Indians’ defense stepped up.
“I’m pretty proud of our Black Shirt defense,” Downey said. “They did everything we asked of them, expect they didn’t tackle as well as they usually do. But part of that needs to be credit given to the Wawasee runners. They had a couple ball carriers that are big, strong, physical runners. I wouldn’t be surprised if most teams they play need multiple defenders to bring them down. They’re just that physical.”
And Northridge will be the first team to take on the physical backs Friday back in Syracuse.
“All goals for us are still attainable,” Wogomon said. “The big picture is about playing the NLC schedule. I hate losing. I know there should be 60 guys over there that hate losing. All we can do is just come back with some resolve.”[[In-content Ad]]
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