Columbia City Runs Past Tigers
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Entering Friday night's first contest between Columbia City and Warsaw in almost 20 years, both teams knew what they wanted to do. And it was strikingly similar. The execution, however, was not.
The name of the game was ball control; running the ball and controlling the clock at the same time. The Eagles, 2-7 last season, did it to perfection and came away from Fisher Field with a 28-14 win over the Tigers, who also finished 2-7 a year ago.
With the tandem of Josh Monesmith (189 yards) and Ryan Sewell (119), the Eagles outrushed the Tigers 328-121 and dominated the time of possession.
"We got backed up on our side of the field from the very get-go," Warsaw coach Phil Jensen said. "They just wore our defense out.
"That is an outstanding combination of backs with the two of those in the backfield," he said. "When we stacked up inside, the tailback went outside. When we went outside, the fullback darted in the inside on us."
Columbia City had Warsaw's defense on its heels all night, trying to guess which way the Eagles would run and usually picking wrong.
The Tigers were looking forward to unleashing a two-back offense of their own behind a big offense line. But it appears the Warsaw offense has yet to get last year's offensive struggles out of its system first.
"We were not able to sustain anything," Jensen said. "It is where we left off at the end of last year. We looked good on a few plays, but didn't get the job done to sustain big drives that we needed to give our defense a rest. They were putting nine guys up on the line and daring us to throw the football. We just didn't get the job done.
"We wanted to establish the running game, and then hopefully toward the end of the second quarter and come out and throw the ball more," he said. "We felt like we had to do to them what they did to us. We wanted to control the clock and keep their offense off the field. It was two teams with a very similar game plan, and they were better at it than we were."
Warsaw got the tough break early when senior safety James Taylor picked off the one and only City pass attempt of the first quarter deep in Warsaw territory. It appeared Taylor's momentum carried him into the end zone for a touchback and the ball at the 20-yard line. But the officials placed the ball at the one and eventually the Tigers had to punt from their own end zone.
"James makes a great play, and that is just one of those plays that happens in a football game," Jensen said. "He comes down on the one instead of falling into the end zone. That is a whole different situation. If a turnover is ever a good thing, that is about as good a turnover as you can get. They took advantage of it."
After a scoreless first quarter, the Eagles got on the board first when sophomore quarterback Marshall Keith snuck in from two yards out to make it 7-0.
"They proved what it is to come back with a full offensive unit," Jensen said. "That sophomore quarterback (Keith) has a nice command of the offense."
Then came probably the single biggest play of the game. Midway through the second quarter, Warsaw's junior wingback Jose Esquivel broke into the open and rumbled 31 yards to the Eagle 29-yard line. But at the end of the play, Esquivel fumbled and the Eagles recovered.
On the next play, Monesmith broke one himself, for 56 yards, down to the Warsaw five. Two plays later, Sewell ran in from four yards out to make it 13-0 after a failed PAT kick.
In the third quarter, Monesmith scored from 14 yards out to put the Eagles in command 21-0.
A bright note for Warsaw, compared to last year, is that it didn't have to wait four games to get its first score of the year. This year, it took only three quarters.
After a Pat Riley recovery of a Sewell fumble put Warsaw at the Eagle 20, senior quarterback Andy Plank hit senior Emerson Poort for a 20-yard score. Poort, who missed all of last season with an injury, made a great catch at the 10-yard line with three defenders on him and one even interfering and ran in for the score to make it 21-7.
Sewell quickly took the momentum away from the Tigers after scored early in the fourth quarter after a long Eagle drive to make it 28-7.
Warsaw's final score of the night came with less than a minute left in the game when backup quarterback Rob Boley hit Joel Shepherd from five yards out.
The Tiger offense showed signs of clicking in the third quarter when they finally decided to open things up a little. But by that point, the Eagles knew they were going to throw the ball and easily protected its lead.
"We have some good athletes," Jensen said. "There are four or five parts of our offense that this is their first varsity contest. There were some positive things to build on. They have come a long way in a year, but we have a long way to go. We have to get used to playing against a team like that every (Friday) night. That will make us better."
Warsaw (0-1) is at Tippecanoe Valley (0-1) Friday, while Columbia City (1-0) hosts Whitko (1-0). [[In-content Ad]]
Entering Friday night's first contest between Columbia City and Warsaw in almost 20 years, both teams knew what they wanted to do. And it was strikingly similar. The execution, however, was not.
The name of the game was ball control; running the ball and controlling the clock at the same time. The Eagles, 2-7 last season, did it to perfection and came away from Fisher Field with a 28-14 win over the Tigers, who also finished 2-7 a year ago.
With the tandem of Josh Monesmith (189 yards) and Ryan Sewell (119), the Eagles outrushed the Tigers 328-121 and dominated the time of possession.
"We got backed up on our side of the field from the very get-go," Warsaw coach Phil Jensen said. "They just wore our defense out.
"That is an outstanding combination of backs with the two of those in the backfield," he said. "When we stacked up inside, the tailback went outside. When we went outside, the fullback darted in the inside on us."
Columbia City had Warsaw's defense on its heels all night, trying to guess which way the Eagles would run and usually picking wrong.
The Tigers were looking forward to unleashing a two-back offense of their own behind a big offense line. But it appears the Warsaw offense has yet to get last year's offensive struggles out of its system first.
"We were not able to sustain anything," Jensen said. "It is where we left off at the end of last year. We looked good on a few plays, but didn't get the job done to sustain big drives that we needed to give our defense a rest. They were putting nine guys up on the line and daring us to throw the football. We just didn't get the job done.
"We wanted to establish the running game, and then hopefully toward the end of the second quarter and come out and throw the ball more," he said. "We felt like we had to do to them what they did to us. We wanted to control the clock and keep their offense off the field. It was two teams with a very similar game plan, and they were better at it than we were."
Warsaw got the tough break early when senior safety James Taylor picked off the one and only City pass attempt of the first quarter deep in Warsaw territory. It appeared Taylor's momentum carried him into the end zone for a touchback and the ball at the 20-yard line. But the officials placed the ball at the one and eventually the Tigers had to punt from their own end zone.
"James makes a great play, and that is just one of those plays that happens in a football game," Jensen said. "He comes down on the one instead of falling into the end zone. That is a whole different situation. If a turnover is ever a good thing, that is about as good a turnover as you can get. They took advantage of it."
After a scoreless first quarter, the Eagles got on the board first when sophomore quarterback Marshall Keith snuck in from two yards out to make it 7-0.
"They proved what it is to come back with a full offensive unit," Jensen said. "That sophomore quarterback (Keith) has a nice command of the offense."
Then came probably the single biggest play of the game. Midway through the second quarter, Warsaw's junior wingback Jose Esquivel broke into the open and rumbled 31 yards to the Eagle 29-yard line. But at the end of the play, Esquivel fumbled and the Eagles recovered.
On the next play, Monesmith broke one himself, for 56 yards, down to the Warsaw five. Two plays later, Sewell ran in from four yards out to make it 13-0 after a failed PAT kick.
In the third quarter, Monesmith scored from 14 yards out to put the Eagles in command 21-0.
A bright note for Warsaw, compared to last year, is that it didn't have to wait four games to get its first score of the year. This year, it took only three quarters.
After a Pat Riley recovery of a Sewell fumble put Warsaw at the Eagle 20, senior quarterback Andy Plank hit senior Emerson Poort for a 20-yard score. Poort, who missed all of last season with an injury, made a great catch at the 10-yard line with three defenders on him and one even interfering and ran in for the score to make it 21-7.
Sewell quickly took the momentum away from the Tigers after scored early in the fourth quarter after a long Eagle drive to make it 28-7.
Warsaw's final score of the night came with less than a minute left in the game when backup quarterback Rob Boley hit Joel Shepherd from five yards out.
The Tiger offense showed signs of clicking in the third quarter when they finally decided to open things up a little. But by that point, the Eagles knew they were going to throw the ball and easily protected its lead.
"We have some good athletes," Jensen said. "There are four or five parts of our offense that this is their first varsity contest. There were some positive things to build on. They have come a long way in a year, but we have a long way to go. We have to get used to playing against a team like that every (Friday) night. That will make us better."
Warsaw (0-1) is at Tippecanoe Valley (0-1) Friday, while Columbia City (1-0) hosts Whitko (1-0). [[In-content Ad]]